ITR filing 2025: Why checking AIS and Form 26AS is critical before submitting tax returns

Income tax return: Challenges in accessing AIS has led to delays in return-filing this year, say tax consultants

Ahead of the September 15 extended due date to file income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year 2024-25 (assessment year 2025-26), a major challenge that many taxpayers and tax professionals are facing pertains to accessing the annual information statement (AIS).

Inability to access this crucial document has led to the ITR filing exercise being stalled in many cases, according to chartered accountants. Here's why AIS is critical to the tax return filing process:

Know your AIS 
Accessing and verifying AIS is important, as is downloading form-26AS, or the tax credit statement. The latter displays details of property purchases, high-value financial investments and TDS/TCS transactions made during the year.

AIS, an extension of Form-26AS, is more detailed. It also captures savings account interest, dividends, rent received, purchase and sale of securities/immovable property, foreign remittances and interest on deposits, among others. Taxpayers can also provide feedback on reported transactions in case of discrepancies.

Also read: ITR Filing Deadline News Live: Taxpayers report portal glitches as ITR deadline looms; will due date be extended?

How to access AIS

Step 1: Log on to incometax.gov.in using your user ID (PAN) and password
Step 2: Click on the Annual Information Statement (AIS) tab in the main menu
Step 3: Click 'Proceed', which will then redirect you to the AIS portal

Step 4: Select the AIS tab to view your statement
Alternatively, you can go to the e-file menu after logging in, click on Income Tax Return > View AIS, and follow step 3.

Review your AIS
Go through records of financial transactions and TDS to confirm that all income is reported. Since AIS and Form-26AS provide a detailed history of your financial transactions, any omission is likely to be flagged.

For example, failing to declare the sale of shares, mutual fund units or rental income could attract a notice for non-disclosure when the I-T department processes your return. AIS will also display details of tax refunds, savings account interest, dividends, property transactions and foreign remittances. Ensure your ITR reflects all these.

Also read: ITR filing 2025: Preparing to file income tax returns? Keep these crucial documents handy

Flag errors or inconsistencies

AIS comes with an in-built grievance mechanism. After accessing the statement on the e-filing portal, you can verify the details and report errors, if any.

To raise a dispute, follow this procedure:

-         Click on ‘Bulk feedback’, select the erroneous transaction, and click ‘Continue’

-         From the ‘Feedback type; dropdown, choose the relevant option and hit submit

-         If accepted, AIS will reflect both the value reported by the deductor and the corrected figure based on your feedback.