The Annual Information Statement (AIS) is a very useful tool introduced by the Income Tax Department to help taxpayers file income tax returns accurately. AIS provides you a quick overview of your financial transactions in a financial year, i.e., income earned, tax paid, and major financial transactions. Your AIS verification avoids you missing any income and avoids over-matches that may result in department notice.
How to see your AIS online
To see your AIS, first login on the Income Tax e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in. Login on PAN or Aadhaar and password. On reaching the dashboard, click on the "Services" option and click on "Annual Information Statement (AIS)," which opens a separate AIS portal. After you are routed, select the year of the finances when you want to view the AIS, e.g., FY 2023–24 in the event of reporting ITR in AY 2024–25. You will have an option between the Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) and the Annual Information Statement. Select AIS and download the detailed statement in PDF or JSON.
How to open the AIS PDF
If you wish to download it in PDF, it will be password-protected. Your PAN in lower case along with date of birth in the format of DDMMYYYY will be the first password. If your PAN is ABCDE1234F and date of birth is 5th August 1985, the password would be abcde1234f05081985.
What to look in the AIS
The AIS report has two sections. Part A contains your personal details such as PAN, name, and phone number. Part B contains all your reported financial details—such as TDS received on salary, interest on bank account and fixed deposit, dividend income, sale of property, mutual fund purchase, foreign remittances, and refund received. There is the source of income or transaction, amount, and whether you accepted or corrected it in each category.
How to cross-check and edit data
As soon as you download the AIS, verify its entries with your Form 26AS and your own documents such as salary vouchers, interest certificates issued by banks, and investment statements. If there is any error or discrepancy, the portal will have a facility of providing feedback. You can do this by selecting the relevant transaction and indicating the information to be correct, partially correct, or not related to your PAN or assessment year.
Don't overlook this last step
Reconciliation of your AIS is an obligatory step before filing your ITR. It involves full disclosure of income and avoids mistakes that can attract penalty or re-assessment. Spending some time reconciling and cross-checking your AIS with other books makes the ITR process smooth, error-free, and conforming to the Income Tax Department.
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