What is the difference between Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Form 26AS?

The Income Tax Department launched the new Annual Information Statement (AIS) on the Compliance Portal in 2021, which gives a taxpayer a comprehensive view of of the financial transactions carried out during a financial year.

Before AIS was introduced, most of the details were available in the taxpayer’s Form 26AS (also known as the tax passbook). Here is a look at the key differences between Form 26AS and AIS.

What is AIS

Annual Information Statement (AIS) carries your financial transaction details of a financial year. AIS helps you in filing the appropriate ITR form.

The new AIS includes additional information relating to interest, dividend, securities transactions, mutual fund transactions, foreign remittance information etc. The reported information has been processed to remove duplicate information. Taxpayer will be able to download AIS information in PDF, JSON, CSV formats.

How to view AIS form

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

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

According to the latest FAQs on AIS, below are the important points which contains in AIS

PART – A

General Information Part-A displays general information pertaining to you, including 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 is made available.

• 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. (Details related to Demand will be released soon)

• 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

Form 26AS

This is the statement which provides details of the taxes deducted, collected and pain during the financial year. The tax passbook of an individual, Form 26AS, contains information about the taxes withheld from and deposited against the PAN of the individual during a financial year.

How to download Form 26AS?

Step 1: Login to Income tax website

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

Step 3: Click ‘View Form 26AS’

Information included in 26AS

• Details of tax deducted at source and of the deductors
• Details of advance tax,
• Details of self-assessment tax
• Tax refunds
• Details of Annual Information Report (AIR) and high-value transactions
• Details of tax deducted on the sale of property or any other high-value transactions, among others.
• Details of tax collected at source

What is the difference between AIS and Form 26AS?

According to the Income tax website FAQs on AIS, “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. 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.”