ITR Filing: Crosscheck Form 26AS & AIS With Form 16 For Quick & Error-Free Tax Filing

The due date for filing your income tax returns for the financial year 20/23/24 is soon approaching. That's right, 31st July is that deadline. So, if you are a salaried taxpayer and have not yet received your Form 16, you can still take those first steps towards filing returns by getting all your documents in order. Watch this video till the end as I tell you how Form 26 AS as well as your AIS or Annual Information Statement can get you started. Also, don't forget to like, share and subscribe to Money Control for more such content. First things first, both Form 26 AS and your Annual Information Statement or AIS can be downloaded to the Income Tax Portal at www.incometax.gov.in. Use your PAN number as your user ID. Now through Form 26 AS you will be able to view all details such as high value financial transactions, any details of property purchases made during that financial year and also tax deducted at source or TDs and tax collected at source or TCS that is deposited with the Income Tax department by the deductors that is your employer or banks. The AIS or the annual information statement is an extension of the Form 26 as it is a more comprehensive look at all your financial transactions. For instance, it will display details of tax refunds, saving account interest or dividends that have been earned through sale and purchase of securities, as well as a rent that has been received, immovable properties as well as foreign remittances, and so on. Now, while you go about checking these documents, keep an eye out for specified financial transactions, especially if there are cash deposits of over ₹10,00,000 in your savings account in that particular financial year or there has been a purchase of property worth over ₹30,00,000. This should be reflected in your Form 26 as. Do note though that in case there are any discrepancies in Form 26, as it is not possible to get your grievances or mismatches resolved through the IT portal, you will have to approach your tax deductor, that is your employer or the bank, the ones that have collected the tax, in order to get the errors rectified. AIS on the other hand comes with a built in grievance redressal mechanism. Once you open it on the portal, you can verify the information and provide your feedback should you find any errors. Once you get your Form 16 in hand, compare it with all your income statements, your bank interest certificates, as well as Form 26 AS and your annual information statement and then your path is set to a quick and error free ITR filing.