Net Worth Certificate in Bengaluru

ESOPs, RSUs and foreign assets on a net worth certificate

This is where Bengaluru certificates most often go wrong, usually by overstating net worth.

Vested RSUs and shares you hold. Shares already in your name, in an Indian demat account or an overseas brokerage account, are assets at market value on the reference date. Foreign holdings are converted to INR at one stated rate for that date; we use the FBIL reference rate where one is published and name the source.

Unvested RSUs and unexercised options. You do not own these yet, and they can lapse if you leave. We do not add them to total assets. If the reader wants to know about them, we disclose them in a note below the table, without a value in the total.

Shares in an unlisted employer. Options you have exercised give you shares with no market price. We use a stated basis, such as a valuation report you hold or the price you paid, and say which. Readers often look at these more sceptically than at listed shares, so the basis matters.

Foreign bank and retirement accounts. These go in at the statement balance on the reference date, converted at the stated rate, with a note if withdrawals are restricted. If you are a resident filing returns in India, the overseas assets on your certificate should line up with what you report in Schedule FA of your income-tax return; a reader who compares the two should find the same accounts.

Who asks for it in Bengaluru

Banks, for home, education and business loans, decide the format and how recent the date must be. Visa files go to missions that include the British Deputy High Commission and the German Consulate General in Bengaluru, among others. We have not seen an official checklist from them that makes a CA net worth certificate compulsory; where a checklist asks for proof of funds, the certificate is supporting financial evidence next to your bank and brokerage statements. Tender authorities, including Karnataka government departments, municipal bodies and public-sector buyers, set the minimum, definition and date in the notice inviting tender, and the certificate follows that clause.

Karnataka guidance value and apartments under construction

Karnataka's stamp duty benchmark is the guidance value, notified by the state and published by the Department of Stamps and Registration, which you can look up through Kaveri Online Services. On a certificate, an apartment can go in at a registered valuer's figure, at the guidance value if the reader accepts it, or at cost, with the basis written on the line.

An apartment still under construction is different: you do not yet own a finished flat. We show the amount paid to the builder so far, from the agreement and payment receipts, and deduct the home loan disbursed against it. Showing the full agreement value as an asset while the builder is still owed money overstates your net worth.

Worked example: a Bengaluru IT professional

Illustrative figures only. An employee of a multinational in Whitefield needs a certificate for a visa application.

Adding the unvested RSUs would have inflated the figure with shares the employee may never receive. The note below the table records them, along with the exchange rate, its source and the reference date.