Form 26AS vs AIS vs TIS: What They Are and How to Use Them Before Filing ITR

Why You Should Check These Statements Before Filing

Every year, the Income Tax Department collects data about your financial transactions from banks, employers, mutual fund houses, stock brokers, and property registrars. This data is compiled into three statements — Form 26AS, AIS (Annual Information Statement), and TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary) — all available on the income tax e-filing portal.

If the income you report in your ITR does not match what these statements show, you are likely to receive a notice under Section 143(1) or worse. Checking these statements before filing is no longer optional — it is the single most effective way to avoid mismatches, missed income, and unnecessary scrutiny.

Form 26AS: The Original Tax Passbook

Form 26AS has been around for years and remains the most familiar of the three. Think of it as a consolidated record of tax deducted or collected on your behalf during the financial year.

What Form 26AS Contains

Key Things to Verify in Form 26AS

1. TDS amounts match your Form 16 / Form 16A. If your employer deducted Rs 85,000 as TDS but Form 26AS shows Rs 80,000, the employer may not have deposited the difference. You can only claim credit for what appears in 26AS.

2. All TDS entries have the correct PAN. Mistakes in PAN entry by deductors are common. If a bank spells your PAN wrong, that TDS will not show up in your 26AS — and you will not get credit for it.

3. Advance tax payments appear. If you paid advance tax via challan, confirm the amount, BSR code, and challan serial number match.

For salaried employees, the most important check is that your employer's TDS matches what your Form 16 states. Any mismatch means either the employer made an error in their TDS return or there is a PAN issue that needs to be corrected at source.

AIS: The Comprehensive Financial Snapshot

The Annual Information Statement (AIS) was introduced in November 2021 and has progressively become the more important document. While Form 26AS focuses on TDS and tax payments, AIS captures a much wider range of financial transactions.

What AIS Covers That 26AS Does Not

AIS pulls data from multiple reporting entities and covers:

• Salary income — gross salary as reported by your employer
• Interest income — from savings accounts, fixed deposits, and recurring deposits across all banks
• Dividend income — from stocks and mutual funds
• Securities transactions — purchase and sale of shares, mutual funds, and bonds
• Rent received — if reported by the tenant via TDS on rent
• Foreign remittances — reported under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme
• Cash deposits and withdrawals — above reporting thresholds (typically Rs 10 lakh in savings accounts, Rs 50 lakh in current accounts)
• Purchase of immovable property — sale deed registration data
• Credit card payments — aggregate payments above Rs 10 lakh in a year
• GST turnover — if you have a GST registration

The Two Columns You Must Understand

AIS displays each transaction with two values:

• As reported — the raw data submitted by the reporting entity (bank, employer, broker, etc.)
• As modified — the value after you submit feedback or the department makes corrections

If you spot an error, you can submit feedback directly on the AIS portal. For instance, if a bank reports Rs 45,000 in interest income but you calculate only Rs 38,000 based on your passbook, you can flag this. The "as modified" column will then reflect your feedback — though the department may still ask for supporting documents later.

Practical Example: Why AIS Catches What 26AS Misses

Suppose you hold savings accounts at three different banks. Each pays you interest during the year:

None of these banks deduct TDS because each amount is below Rs 40,000 (the TDS threshold for interest under Section 194A). So Form 26AS shows nothing about this interest income.

But AIS lists all three entries. If you file your ITR claiming only the SBI interest because you forgot about the other two accounts, the mismatch is immediately visible to the department's systems. This is exactly the kind of discrepancy that triggers automated notices.

Under the old tax regime, you can claim a deduction of up to Rs 10,000 on savings account interest under Section 80TTA — but you still need to report the full Rs 27,500 as income first.

TIS: The Department's Summary View

The Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) is essentially a processed, aggregated version of AIS. While AIS lists individual transactions, TIS groups them by income category and shows you the total the department expects you to report.

How TIS Differs from AIS

The derived value in TIS is important. This is the department's best estimate of your actual income in each category, after de-duplicating and processing AIS data. For example, if a mutual fund house and your demat depository both report the same dividend, AIS may show it twice — but TIS will (usually) show it once.

When TIS and AIS Disagree

Occasionally, the derived value in TIS may not match the sum of transactions in AIS. This happens because:

1. De-duplication logic removes what the system identifies as double-reported transactions
2. Feedback you submitted on AIS has been partially accepted
3. Processing delays mean some corrections have not yet flowed through

In such cases, rely on your own records (bank statements, broker contract notes, Form 16) as the primary source of truth. Use AIS and TIS as cross-references, not as the final word.

How to Access All Three Statements

All three are available on the income tax e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in:

1. Log in with your PAN and password
2. Form 26AS: Go to e-File → Income Tax Returns → View Form 26AS. You will be redirected to the TRACES portal.
3. AIS and TIS: Go to Services → Annual Information Statement. Both AIS and TIS are shown on the same page as separate tabs.

Download all three as PDFs or view them online. When you are ready to file, having these open alongside your ITR filing checklist ensures you do not miss any income source.

A Step-by-Step Pre-Filing Reconciliation

Here is a practical workflow to reconcile your statements before filing:

Step 1: Start with TIS. Note the derived totals for each income category — salary, interest, dividends, capital gains, rental income, and others.

Step 2: Cross-check against AIS. For any category where the TIS total looks wrong, drill into the AIS transactions. Flag errors by submitting feedback.

Step 3: Verify TDS in Form 26AS. Confirm that every TDS entry matches your Form 16, Form 16A, or bank TDS certificates. If any TDS is missing, contact the deductor and ask them to file a correction in their TDS return.

Step 4: Compare with your own records. Match bank passbooks, broker statements, and employer payslips against all three statements. Your records are the ultimate source of truth.

Step 5: File your ITR. Report all income as per your verified records. If a transaction appears in AIS but you believe it is incorrect and you have submitted feedback, report the correct amount — but keep documentation ready in case the department follows up.

49Tax can help streamline this process — when you upload your Form 16 and other documents, the AI cross-references reported income against standard categories so you are less likely to miss a source.

Common Errors to Watch For

• Duplicate dividend entries — Both the company and the registrar (e.g., NSDL) may report the same dividend in AIS. Check before adding it twice to your ITR.
• Interest from closed FDs — If you broke an FD mid-year, the bank may report accrued interest for the full tenure. Verify the actual interest credited.
• Previous employer TDS — If you switched jobs, your old employer's TDS should appear separately. Ensure both employers' TDS entries are present.
• Property sale TDS mismatch — The buyer deposits TDS under Section 194-IA. If they enter your PAN incorrectly, it will not reflect in your 26AS. Follow up with the buyer.
• Savings interest below TDS threshold — Remember, no TDS does not mean no tax. All interest income must be reported regardless of whether TDS was deducted.

What Happens If You Ignore These Statements

The income tax department's systems automatically compare your filed ITR against AIS data. If there is a mismatch:

1. You may receive an e-Campaign notification asking you to explain or file a revised return
2. A Section 143(1) intimation may adjust your taxable income upward and demand additional tax plus interest
3. In persistent cases, your return could be picked for scrutiny assessment under Section 143(3)

The cost of checking AIS and TIS before filing is 30 minutes. The cost of responding to a notice is significantly more — in time, stress, and potentially in additional tax and interest under Section 234A/B/C.

Key Takeaway

Form 26AS tells you what tax was deducted. AIS tells you what financial transactions the department knows about. TIS tells you what they expect you to report. Check all three before filing, reconcile them against your own records, and you will file a return that holds up to automated scrutiny without surprises. Thirty minutes of pre-filing verification can save you months of notice responses later.