Information Page on Form 26AS

Form 26AS, also known as Tax Credit Statement, is crucial paperwork for tax purposes. The era of manually downloading Form 26AS to file your Income Tax returns is long gone. The income tax agency has been updating Form 26AS to contain even more information. The document’s coverage has now been broadened to include information on international transfers, mutual fund purchases and dividends, details of refunds, and so on.

What exactly is Form 26AS?

Form 26AS is a yearly tax summary that provides all of the following data in detail.

• Information on the tax taken from your earnings by deductors.
• Tax information gathered by collectors.
• Prepaid tax amount.
• Taxes paid via self-assessment.
• Regular assessment tax paid by PAN holders.
• Information of any refunds you got throughout the fiscal year.
• The description of High-Value Transactions including shares, mutual funds, and many more.
• Extra information such as mutual fund purchases and dividends, interests on income tax rebates, off-market transactions, international transfers, salary breakdown information, and on and on.

New Updates to Form 26AS

Before this modification, Budget 2020 enlarged the range of Form 26AS. As a result, Form 26AS has been modified to contain certain financial transactions, current and finished assessment proceedings, income tax claims, and reimbursements.

The Indian tax department has once again proposed an AIS (Annual Information Statement) to include additional facts such as overseas money transfers, off-market operations, interest on tax rebates, mutual fund acquisitions and dividend data, pay break-up information, etc.

They have already obtained certain information from authorized organizations like banks and other Financial Institutions. Salary breakdown information is provided in Form 16 based on information supplied by companies to the TRACES system. They also have access to information about some taxpayer transactions via other people’s Income tax returns. For instance, a property dealer submits buyer information in their Income-tax return.

What are the advantages of the new and updated Form 26AS?

The updated Income Tax 26AS document offers several benefits over the old one.

1. The latest AIS can be employed to collect information and offer taxpayers pre-filled tax returns. The income tax authorities have envisaged a stepwise approach to database pre-filling.
2. The tax department is also attempting to eliminate inaccuracies and duplications in the updated report’s material. If the facts represented are incorrect, there is a possibility to offer online comments in the latest AIS report.
3. In the event of error or inaccuracy, the taxpayer may give comments demanding a change. For mass information, feedback can be sent. In addition, an offline AIS application has been supplied to allow users to post feedback when not connected to the internet. It is also available for download in a variety of forms, including PDF, JSON, and CSV.
4. The AIS statement will be divided into two sections:
   1. TIS (Taxpayers Information Summary), and 
   2. AIS (Annual Information Statement)

TIS would be a relatively basic report that displays aggregate values, but AIS would be a more thorough statement. TIS displays the processed amount (i.e. the amount based on income tax data) and the generated amount (i.e. the amount adjusted after taking into account the taxpayer’s input). When an input is sent, the generated data in TIS is instantly updated.

The updated AIS report will make it easier for taxpayers to file their Income tax returns since more information will be provided in a single report. Citizens will be capable of detecting inaccurate information recorded in AIS and submit comments to allow for remedial measures to be taken.

5. Furthermore, the tax department would be able to readily verify the data submitted by the taxpayers with their source of data and discover any discrepancies. This would lower the number of notices issued by the Income Tax Department as well as potential tax leakages.

What are the components of the new Form 26AS?

The components of the new Form 26AS are discussed below:

• Tax Deducted at Source Details
  Form 26AS Part A provides information about TDS taken from your pay stub, interest earnings, pension earnings, and prize wins, among other things. The deductor’s TAN and the sum of TDS collected and paid are also listed. This data is released on a quarterly schedule.

A1. Tax Deducted at Source Details for Form 15H or Form 15G

Since the assessee filed Form 15G or Form 15H, information of revenue where no Tax Deducted at Source has been collected are provided in this part of Part A of Form 26AS. If you have filed Form 15G or 15H, you can check the state of your TDS deduction. However, If you did not file Form 15G or 15H, this part will show ‘No transactions present.’

A2. Tax Deducted at Source Details on Immovable Property Sale under Section S194IA: Seller

This part of Part A of Form 26AS applies if you sold any immovable property during the financial year and Tax Deducted at Source was charged from the proceeds. The related entries may be found here.

• Tax Collected at Source
  Part B of Form 26AS contains information on the tax obtained at the point of sale (TCS) by a vendor of products. If you’re a vendor and gather taxes, you will see entries here in this section.
  
• Tax Paid Details (excluding TDS and TCS)
  If you have paid your own tax, this data will display in Part C of Form 26AS. This section contains information about advance tax payment and self-assessment tax. This section also includes information on the challan used to deposit the tax.
  
• Paid Refund Details
  Part D of Form 26AS contains details on your possible refunds. The assessment year whereby the refund relates, as well as the manner of the transaction, the sum paid, and interest amounts, as well as the payment date, are all specified in this section.
  
• AIR Transaction Details
  Financial institutions like banks are required to disclose high-value transfers to the Indian Tax Department. Mutual fund and property acquisitions, as well as high-value industrial bond, are all recorded here in Part E of Form 26AS.
  
• Tax Deducted on Immovable Property Sale Details under Section S194IA: Buyer
  If you have purchased a property, you must subtract TDS before paying the dealer. Part F of Form 26AS contains information on the TDS that you have deducted and deposited.
  
• TDS Defaults
  Defaults related to remarks processing are listed in Part G of Form 26AS. However, they never include recommendations made by the evaluating authority.
  

How can I access Form 26AS?

As a taxpayer, you can access Form 26AS via two methods. Both of them are discussed below:

• Via the E-Filing and TRACES webpage,

1. Go to the E-filing webpage.
2. Provide your user ID, which can be your PAN number, your Aadhaar number, or another user ID. If somehow the provided user ID is incorrect, an error notice will appear. Proceed with proper user ID information. Net banking is another option to access your e-filing account.
3. Select the checkbox at the bottom of the secure access notification to confirm it. “Login” is the default secure authorization notification. The default secure text serves as verification of the legitimacy of the Indian Income Tax website. From “Profile,” the user can create his or her own personalized secure authorization statement. Continue by entering your password.
4. A new screen will display. Navigate to ‘e-file.’ Choose “View Form 26AS” from the drop-down menu under “Income Tax Returns.” Check your Form 26AS.
5. After reading the notice, select the ‘Confirm’ button to be routed to the TRACES webpage.
6. Click on the checkbox on the interface and select the ‘Proceed’ option.
7. To access your Form 26AS, select the hyperlink at the end of the page that says ‘Click View Tax Credit (Form 26AS).

• Via your Bank Account Net-banking
  From Financial Year 2008-09 onwards, you can access Form 26AS using your bank account’s net banking. A PAN holder who has a bank account with any approved bank can use this service. However, only if you have your PAN number linked to that specific account, may you access your Tax Credit Statement (Form 26AS). This service is provided for free.

National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) has approved the following list of banking institutions for this service:

How can I download Form 26AS?

1. Go to the E-filing webpage.
2. Click the ‘Login’ button.
3. Insert your User ID. To finish the login procedure, you must provide your PAN number. You must first finish the registration procedure before logging in.
4. After you’ve provided your User ID, select ‘Continue.’
5. Choose ‘e-file.’
6. Then, choose ‘Income Tax Returns.’
7. Then, select ‘View Form 26AS’.
8. Then, click ‘Confirm.’
9. In the following webpage, select ‘Proceed.’
10. Then, choose ‘View Tax Credit (Form 26AS)’.
11. Select the ‘View Type’ & ‘Assessment Year’ options.
12. Then, select your desired format.
13. To finish the procedure, click ‘View/ Download.

Note: Your PAN number is your User ID. The first action would be to register or log in to the portal. After providing your PAN card number under the ‘Taxpayer’ section, the webpage will notify you if you are currently registered. If you have previously e-filed, you’re probably already enrolled. Please scan your mail inbox for “incometax.gov.in” to find any relevant details. Log in with your password. If you can’t recall your password, you’ll have to change or reset it.

Alternatively, you can also download Form 26AS using the net banking facility of the banks mentioned above.

Further Updates on Form 26AS

The following taxpayer information will be provided on the revised Form 26AS from 1 June 2020:

• TDS and TCS.
• Specific financial transaction information*
• Income-tax transactions made by the taxpayer, including advance tax as well as self-assessment tax
• Tax refunds and tax demands
• Income-tax proceedings, both pending and finished

*The government has yet to announce or explain the specific financial transactions that must be reported on the updated Form 26AS. The revised format is in accordance with the budget 2020 proposal, which aims to make tax collection and payment easier.