Form 26AS and AIS: Two documents you must check before filing your income-tax returns

The income tax (I-T) department launched the new Annual Information Statement (AIS) on the Compliance Portal in 2021, which provides taxpayers a complete view of their financial transactions carried out during a fiscal year.

The aim was to make it easier for taxpayers to file their returns, encourage voluntary compliance and, most importantly, deter non-compliance.

Further, it enables taxpayers to keep a tab on vital information such as tax refunds, TDS or TCS, interests, mutual fund transactions, international remittances, tax payments, share transactions, and so on.

Plus, the reported data has been cleaned to remove duplicate data. Taxpayers will be able to get AIS data in PDF, JSON and CSV forms.

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Notably, the document contains more details than Form 26AS and it is recommended to reconcile your ITR with your AIS to avoid income reporting errors. Also, taxpayers can give online feedback on the AIS information.

How to check AIS form

Step 1: Log in to URL https://www.incometax.gov.in/

Step 2: Select “Annual Information Statement (AIS)” under the “Services” category from the e-filing portal after successful login on the e-filing portal.

Step 3: Click on the AIS tab, on the homepage.

Step 4: Select the relevant FY and click on AIS tile to view the Annual Information Statement.

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As per the latest FAQs on AIS, following are the crucial points in AIS:

PART A- General Information

Part-A shows general information pertaining to you, including Permanent Account Number (PAN), masked Aadhar number, name of the taxpayer, date of birth/ incorporation/ formation, mobile number, e-mail address and address of taxpayer.

PART- B

TDS/TCS Information: Information related to tax deducted/collected at source is displayed here. The information code of the TDS/TCS, information description and information value is shown.

SFT Information: Under this head, information received from reporting entities under Statement of Financial transaction (SFT) is displayed. The SFT code, Information description and Information value are made available.

Also Read: Should you file ITR even without taxable income? Know these five benefits

Payment of Taxes: Information relating to payment of taxes under different heads, such as advance tax and self-assessment tax, is shown.

Demand and Refund: You will be able to view the details of the demand raised and refund initiated (AY and amount) during a financial year.

Other Information: Details of the information received from the other sources, such as data pertaining to Annexure II salary, interest on refund, outward foreign remittance/purchase of foreign currency etc. is displayed here, according to the income tax website.

Form 26AS

Form 26AS reflects high-value financial transactions and extra information such as foreign remittances, off-market transactions, information about purchase of mutual funds among others.

Also, it contains information about the taxes withheld from and deposited against the PAN of the individual during a financial year.

Form 26AS is an annual consolidated tax statement that taxpayers can access from the income tax department website using their PAN.

How to download Form 26AS?

Step 1: Go to Income tax website

Step 2: Select the e-file menu. Select Income tax Return

Step 3: Click ‘View Form 26AS’

What is the Difference between AIS and Form 26AS?

AIS is the extension of Form 26AS. Form 26AS displays details of property purchases, high-value investments, and TDS/TCS transactions carried out during the financial year. AIS additionally includes savings account interest, dividend, rent received, purchase and sale transactions of securities/immovable properties, foreign remittances, interest on deposits, GST turnover etc, as per the income tax website.

AIS also provides the taxpayer the option to give feedback on the transactions reported. Further, the aggregation of transactions on information source level is also reported in TIS.