AIS vs Form 26AS: Which to Use for ITR AY 2026-27 Filing
Published 13 July 2026 · Tax & Salary
Priya downloaded both documents on July 12. Her AIS shows ₹2,14,300 in FD interest across four banks. Her Form 26AS shows TDS of only ₹9,840 — deducted by two of them. The other two banks appear in AIS but nowhere in Form 26AS. And her AIS has a ₹4,200 dividend from an ELSS fund she forgot she owned.
She has 18 days to file. She does not know which numbers go in which fields, why the two documents say different things, or whether she needs to declare income that shows no TDS.
What AIS and Form 26AS Actually Are (and Why They're Different)
Since AY 2023-24, the Income Tax Department split financial reporting into two separate documents with two completely different jobs.
Form 26AS — the Tax Credit Statement — shows only tax-related transactions: TDS deducted by your employer, bank, or tenant; TCS collected; advance tax you paid; self-assessment tax you paid. That's its entire scope. It does not show income. It shows tax collected on income.
AIS (Annual Information Statement) is the complete financial picture. Banks, mutual fund houses, stock brokers, sub-registrar offices, and over 50 other entity types report "Specified Financial Transactions" to the Income Tax Department under Section 285BA. AIS is where all of that lands — your salary, every bank's interest payout, dividends, mutual fund redemptions, property purchases, large cash deposits, foreign remittances. If a reporting entity has told the government about a transaction involving your PAN, it's in AIS.
One document shows what tax was collected from you. The other shows what the government knows about your finances.
The One Rule That Determines How You Use Each Document
TDS credits can only be claimed from Form 26AS. Not AIS.
This is non-negotiable. When you fill in the TDS credit fields in your ITR, the tax portal validates them against Form 26AS only. If HDFC Bank deducted ₹4,920 from Priya's FD interest in March 2026 but has not yet filed their quarterly TDS return on TRACES, that ₹4,920 will appear in AIS but not in Form 26AS. She cannot claim it as TDS credit until it appears in Form 26AS — regardless of what AIS shows.
AIS tells you what income to declare. Form 26AS tells you what TDS you can claim. These are separate questions with separate answers.
A Three-Step Process Before You Open the ITR Portal
Download both documents fresh — not from a copy you saved weeks ago. Both AIS and Form 26AS are dynamic. They update whenever an employer files a revised TDS return or a bank submits corrected data. The most complete versions are available after May 31, when Q4 TDS returns are due on TRACES. Download them from incometax.gov.in the day you sit down to file.
Step 1: Open AIS. Go through every income line. Compare each item to your own records — bank FD certificates, dividend statements, broker contract notes. For anything that is wrong or does not belong to you, use the AIS Feedback option (click the information icon next to the line, select the correct feedback category). This creates a record of your dispute. File your ITR with your correct income; AIS Feedback runs parallel, it does not block filing.
Step 2: Open Form 26AS. Every TDS entry here is a credit you can claim in your ITR. Match each line to the corresponding income in AIS. If TDS appears in Form 26AS but you cannot find the corresponding income in AIS, that income still exists — check your bank statements or broker reports.
Step 3: Fill your ITR. Income from AIS (verified against your records) goes in the income schedules. TDS from Form 26AS goes in the TDS credit schedules. These two columns are independent — income can exist without TDS, and TDS entries must exactly match Form 26AS figures.
Exactly Which Document Feeds Which ITR Field
| Income / Payment | Source Document | ITR Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Salary income | Form 16 (Part B) — also in AIS | Schedule Salary |
| FD / savings interest | AIS (interest income section) | Schedule OS (Other Sources) |
| Dividend income | AIS (dividend section) | Schedule OS (Other Sources) |
| Capital gains from stocks / MF | AIS (capital gains section) | Schedule CG |
| TDS on salary | Form 26AS (Part A) + Form 16 | Schedule TDS1 |
| TDS on FD interest / dividend | Form 26AS (Part A) only | Schedule TDS2 |
| Advance tax paid | Form 26AS (Part C) | Schedule IT |
| Self-assessment tax paid | Form 26AS (Part C) | Schedule IT |
In Priya's case: the full ₹2,14,300 in FD interest goes in Schedule OS — all four banks, including the two that deducted no TDS. The ₹4,200 ELSS dividend goes in Schedule OS too. The ₹9,840 TDS she can actually claim in Schedule TDS2 is only what appears in Form 26AS. The two banks that haven't yet filed their TDS returns on TRACES? Their TDS credit cannot be claimed until Form 26AS reflects it.
Run this for your own numbers
Calculate Your Income Tax for FY 2025-26 →What Most People Get Wrong
Declaring only income where TDS was deducted. If a bank paid ₹41,600 in FD interest but didn't deduct TDS — because the amount from that single bank was below the ₹40,000 annual threshold — that income appears in AIS but not in Form 26AS. It is still taxable income under slab rates. Omitting it because "there's no TDS" is one of the most common triggers for a Section 143(1) mismatch notice. The IT department has the AIS data. They know about the ₹41,600.
Trusting AIS figures without verifying. AIS is pre-filled by third parties — banks, brokers, mutual fund houses. Banks sometimes report accrued interest (not yet paid into your account). Stock brokers can report gross sale value instead of net capital gain. Joint FD interest can be attributed to the wrong co-holder's PAN. If AIS shows ₹2,14,300 but your bank passbooks and FD certificates total ₹1,98,700, your actual income is ₹1,98,700. Use AIS Feedback to flag the discrepancy, then declare the correct figure in your ITR.
Why AIS Mismatches Generate Notices Without Anyone Reading Your Return
The Income Tax Department's processing system runs automatic Section 143(1) comparisons. It matches the income you declared in your ITR against AIS data algorithmically — no human reviews your return for this step. A ₹500 difference between what's in AIS and what you declared can generate a tax demand notice within 3–6 months of filing without any officer ever looking at your file.
Most people assume income tax notices arrive only when a human decides to scrutinise them. The 143(1) intimation is not scrutiny — it's an automated comparison that runs on every filed return. If your declared FD interest is ₹1,98,700 but AIS shows ₹2,14,300, the system issues a demand for tax on the ₹15,600 difference plus 4% cess plus interest from the filing date.
The correct approach: make your ITR match your AIS (after correcting AIS where it's wrong through Feedback). Not the other way around. Filing ₹1,98,700 and hoping the AIS error gets corrected before the system runs its comparison is not a strategy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I download AIS and Form 26AS before filing ITR AY 2026-27?
Yes — and download them fresh on the day you file, not from a copy you saved weeks earlier. Both documents update dynamically when reporting entities submit revised data. The most complete versions of both are available after May 31, when quarterly TDS returns for Q4 are due. Download from incometax.gov.in → e-File → Income Tax Returns → AIS, and separately from the TRACES portal for Form 26AS.
What is TIS and do I need it alongside AIS?
TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary) is a simplified version of AIS. It shows the same data but nets out duplicate entries and reflects a single "processed value" for each income category — after accounting for any AIS Feedback you have submitted. For most salaried filers, TIS is easier to read than AIS. The ITR pre-fill on the tax portal pulls from TIS, which is why the pre-filled figures sometimes differ from raw AIS numbers. Always review AIS for the underlying detail; use TIS for the summary totals.
TDS appears in my AIS but not in Form 26AS — what do I do?
You cannot claim that TDS credit yet. Contact the deductor — the bank, your employer, or your tenant — and ask them to confirm whether their quarterly TDS return for the relevant period has been filed on TRACES. Once they file, Form 26AS typically updates within 3–5 working days. If the July 31 deadline is near and they haven't filed: file your ITR without claiming that TDS credit, pay any remaining tax as self-assessment tax to avoid Section 234B interest, and file a revised ITR after Form 26AS updates. You have until December 31, 2026 to revise.
Can I file my ITR if AIS shows an entry I don't recognise?
Yes — file on time with your correct income and submit AIS Feedback marking the unrecognised entry as "Information is incorrect" or "Income is not taxable." The burden then shifts to the reporting entity to confirm or correct their submission. Do not delay filing while waiting for AIS corrections — Section 234F's ₹5,000 penalty runs from August 1 regardless of whether an AIS dispute is pending.
Will Form 26AS change after I file my ITR?
Yes. Employers can file revised TDS returns up to 6 years after the relevant financial year. Banks frequently submit corrections for Q4 data as late as June or July. If a deductor files a revised TDS return after your ITR is submitted and your TDS credit changes materially, you may receive a 143(1) intimation. If the revision increases your TDS credit (giving you a larger refund), file a revised ITR to claim it. If it reduces your credit (creating a demand), respond to the notice with your original Form 26AS as of your filing date.
When you open your AIS this week, how many income lines will you find that you haven't accounted for in your own records — and do any of them belong to someone else who shares your PAN on a joint account?