Navigating through Form 26AS, Form 16 and AIS

The Income Tax Department knows all your financial transactions even if you don’t tell! How? Through three forms viz.

Form 26AS
Form 16
Annual Information Statement (AIS).

The combined details from these Forms tell the Income Tax Department, all about your income, major expenses and investments.

Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of each of these documents.

Form 26AS

Whenever tax is deducted from your income before paying you, it is called Tax Deducted at Source (TDS). Form 26AS reflects all such TDS that have been deducted during the financial year. It also shows details of:

Tax Refunds received
High-value investments made
Advance taxes paid
Tax Collected at Source (TCS)
Tax defaults

How to Access:

Go to “My Account” and select “View Form 26AS”.

Form 16/Form 16A

This Form is a certificate issued by your employer or any other person deducting tax. It shows the tax liability according to your salary and the investment declarations submitted to HR in case of Form 16 and Amount paid to you in the case of Form 16A. It is also proof that the employer has deposited the tax that was deducted.

Annual Information Statement (AIS)

Think of AIS as an extended version of 26AS. While AIS includes all the information displayed in 26AS, it also shows your

Interest from the savings account or fixed deposit accounts
Foreign Remittances
Turnover as per GST
Investment
Sale of Securities, etc.

How to Access:

Click on the “Annual Information Statement” menu.

Collective Interpretation

If you read all these statements together, there is no scope for under-reporting or underpayment of taxes. For example,

The business turnover declared in the ITR Form should match to the GST Turnover.
The Capital gain on securities should tally as per the purchase and sale value reflected in the AIS.
Also, all these information reflect directly while filling ITR Form online which has made the return filing faster and easier.

Conclusion

Form 26AS, Form 16 and Annual Information Statement collectively tell all the financial information from property investment to dividends. So, it is very important to check all these documents while filing the income tax return to avoid any income tax notice in the future.