AIS, TIS and Form 26AS (now Form 168): how to read them, fix errors and reconcile before filing
Short answer. Form 26AS is your tax-credit statement: TDS, TCS and the taxes you paid. The Annual Information Statement (AIS) is wider: it lists what banks, employers, fund houses, brokers and registrars reported about you. The Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) adds the AIS up by category and feeds the pre-filled return. None of the three is proof of your income. Match each line with your own documents, correct wrong entries through AIS feedback, and only then file.
What are Form 26AS, AIS and TIS?
They are three views of the same question: what does the Income Tax Department already know about you for a year? Form 26AS answers it for tax credits, the AIS for transactions, and the TIS for totals.
| Form 26AS (Form 168) | AIS | TIS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Annual tax statement against your PAN | Line-by-line statement of reported information | Category-wise summary of the AIS |
| What it shows | TDS, TCS, advance tax and self-assessment tax. Since AY 2023-24 the version on TRACES shows only TDS and TCS data | Salary, interest, dividends, rent, sales and purchases of shares, fund units and property, foreign remittances, GST turnover, tax payments, demands and refunds | For each category, a processed value (after removing duplicates) and a derived value (after your feedback) |
| Where it comes from | TDS and TCS statements filed by deductors, and bank challans | Those statements plus the Statements of Financial Transactions (SFT) filed by reporting entities | Computed from the AIS |
| Use it for | Claiming credit for TDS, TCS and tax paid | Checking that no income or transaction is missed | Seeing what the pre-filled return will pick up |
| Can you correct it? | Only through the deductor or the bank | Yes, through online feedback on each line | It changes when the AIS changes |
Is Form 26AS now called Form 168?
Yes, for income earned from 1 April 2026. The Income-tax Rules, 2026 renumbered most forms when the Income-tax Act, 2025 took effect. Form 26AS became Form 168, the salary TDS certificate Form 16 became Form 130, and Form 16A became Form 131. For FY 2025-26 and earlier years the statement is still Form 26AS, and that is the name you will see while filing in 2026. [VERIFY: how the e-filing portal and TRACES label the statement for tax year 2026-27 once it is released]
How do I download AIS, TIS and Form 26AS?
All three are free and sit behind your login at incometax.gov.in. No registration beyond the e-filing account is needed.
- AIS and TIS. After login, click Annual Information Statement (AIS) on the dashboard, or go to e-File, then Income Tax Return, then View AIS. Click Proceed, choose the financial year, and open either the AIS tile or the TIS tile. The AIS downloads as PDF, JSON or CSV.
- Form 26AS. Go to e-File, then Income Tax Returns, then View Form 26AS. The portal passes you to TRACES, where you pick the year and view or download the statement.
- Password. The AIS and TIS PDFs open with your PAN in lower case followed by your date of birth as DDMMYYYY, for example abcde1234f01011990. If that fails, try the PAN in capitals.
How do I read the AIS?
Part A is about you: PAN, masked Aadhaar, name, date of birth and contact details. Part B is the substance, in five blocks: TDS and TCS information, SFT information, payment of taxes, demand and refund, and other information such as salary details from your employer, interest on a tax refund and money sent abroad.
Each line has an information code and description, the source that reported it, a reported value, and a modified value that appears after feedback. Codes begin with TDS, TCS, SFT or EXC; GST turnover, for instance, appears as EXC-GSTR3B. Three reading rules prevent most mistakes:
- A sale value is not a gain. For shares and fund units the AIS shows what you sold for. The taxable gain comes from your broker's or registrar's capital gains statement. New reporting formats for depositories and fund houses, notified in September 2026, are meant to improve pre-filled capital gains, but the working remains yours to check.
- The same income can appear twice. FD interest may be reported once in the bank's TDS statement and again in its SFT. The TIS processed value is supposed to remove such duplicates. Check that it has.
- Joint accounts and property may be reported in full against the first holder, or against every holder.
AIS vs 26AS: which is correct?
Neither overrides the other. They do different jobs, and neither overrides your own records. For tax credit, Form 26AS is the working record: TDS that is not in it will not be credited when your return is processed, whatever your Form 16 says. For income, the AIS is wider but is built from third-party reports, which can be late, duplicated or wrong. The department's own FAQ puts the duty on you to check the information and report complete and accurate figures in the return.
In practice, report the correct figure supported by your documents. Where that differs from the AIS, leave feedback on the AIS line so that the difference is explained before anyone asks.
What is the difference between 26AS and ITR figures, and why does it matter?
The return is processed against these statements automatically. Income in the AIS that is missing from the return leads to an e-campaign message or a proposed adjustment. TDS claimed in the return but absent from Form 26AS leads to a lower refund or a demand in the intimation. Our guide to income-tax notices explains each of those and how to reply.
What if my AIS is wrong? How to submit feedback
Open the AIS, expand the line and click the button in the Feedback column. Choose an option, fill in the details it asks for, and submit. You get an acknowledgement, the modified value appears beside the reported value, and the TIS derived value updates. There is no limit on how often you can revise feedback.
| Feedback option | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Information is correct | The line matches your records |
| Information is not fully correct | The transaction is yours but the amount is wrong. You enter the right amount |
| Income is not taxable | The receipt is real but is exempt, or is not income in your hands |
| Information relates to other PAN or year | It belongs to a joint holder, a family member or a different year |
| Information is duplicate or included in other information | The same amount is reported on another line |
| Information is denied | You had no such transaction at all |
Since May 2024 the AIS also shows what happens next: whether your feedback was sent to the source for confirmation, the date the source responded, and whether it accepted or rejected the correction. Feedback does not replace evidence. Keep the bank certificate or contract note that supports it.
TDS is missing or wrong in Form 26AS. What should I do?
Only the deductor can fix it. Entries in Form 26AS come from the quarterly TDS statements filed by your employer, bank or client; you cannot edit them and AIS feedback will not add a credit.
- Compare the TDS certificate (Form 16 or 16A, now Forms 130 and 131) with Form 26AS, quarter by quarter.
- If an amount is missing, or sits under a wrong PAN, ask the deductor in writing to file a correction statement, and attach your certificate or payslips.
- Do not wait. From 1 April 2026 a deductor can file a correction statement only within two years from the end of the tax year in which the original statement was due (Section 397(3)(f) of the 2025 Act). The earlier limit was six years. After that the credit may be lost.
- If the return is due before the correction appears, keep proof of the deduction. When the statement is corrected, file a rectification request to claim the credit.
How do I reconcile before filing? A worked example
Download the three statements after mid-June. TDS statements and SFTs for the last quarter are due by 31 May, so earlier downloads are incomplete. Then build one table: your documents on the left, the department's figures on the right.
| Item | Your records | AIS / TIS | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary, one employer | ₹18,00,000 | ₹18,00,000 | Matches the TDS certificate |
| Savings-account interest, two banks | ₹8,420 | ₹8,420 | Report it; small amounts are often forgotten |
| FD interest | ₹96,000 | ₹1,92,000 | Reported twice by the same bank. Feedback: duplicate |
| Interest on income-tax refund | ₹1,150 | ₹1,150 | Taxable, and often missed |
| Total interest | ₹1,05,570 | ₹2,01,570 | Difference of ₹96,000 explained |
| Sale of equity fund units | gain of ₹62,000 | sale value ₹4,50,000 | Compute the gain from the registrar's statement |
| TDS on FD interest | ₹9,600 | ₹9,600 in Form 26AS | Claim the credit |
Had this taxpayer accepted the pre-filled interest of ₹2,01,570, she would have paid tax on ₹96,000 that she never earned: ₹29,952 at the 30% slab with cess. Had she ignored the AIS and left out the refund interest and savings interest, she would have invited a mismatch message. Reconciling takes an hour and removes both risks. It also tells you whether advance tax was short, and which ITR form the year needs.
Related reading
- Seven return mistakes that trigger notices
- What to do if you get an income-tax notice
- Tax on US stocks and foreign shares, including TCS credit
- Capital gains calculator
FAQ
What is Form 26AS?
Who is eligible for Form 26AS, and is it mandatory?
How is Form 26AS generated? Is it given by the employer?
AIS vs 26AS: which is correct?
What is TIS in income tax?
How do I open the AIS or TIS PDF?
In which year did the AIS start?
Sources: Income Tax Department: FAQs on AIS and its AIS FAQ document; PIB: CBDT release on AIS feedback status, 13 May 2024; Business Today: forms renumbered under the Income-tax Rules, 2026; Taxmann: two-year limit for TDS correction statements; TaxGuru: SFT format for depository transactions, September 2026; ClearTax: AIS password format; Business Standard, 4 Nov 2021: launch of the AIS. All checked 19 Sep 2026. Figures in the example are hypothetical.
Education only, not tax advice for your situation. Spotted an error? Write to us.
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