Understand the Annual Information Statement (AIS) for AY 2026-27 — what it captures, how to access it, and how to reconcile entries before filing ITR.
Annual Information System
The Annual Information Statement (AIS) is the Income Tax Department's consolidated record of every significant financial transaction linked to your PAN for a financial year. For AY 2026-27 (FY 2025-26), your AIS sits on the e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in, pulling data from over 50 categories of reporting entities — banks, brokers, mutual funds, depositories, GSTN, the RBI's LRS framework, and international CRS/FATCA feeds. Before you open your ITR form this July, open your AIS first. It shows exactly what the department already knows, and any figure you leave unreconciled is a notice waiting to be issued.
What Is the Annual Information Statement — and How Did We Get Here
The AIS was introduced under Section 285BB of the Income Tax Act, 1961, read with Rule 114-I of the Income Tax Rules. It became operationally live in November 2021 and has been widened every year since — each Union Budget adding new reporting categories, each Budget extending the net of entities required to file the Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT) under Section 285BA.
Before AIS, the taxpayer's reference document was Form 26AS — essentially a TDS and TCS credit statement. Form 26AS told you how much tax had been deducted on your income. It did not tell you the full picture of income the department had been reported about you. AIS fills precisely that gap. It carries transaction-level data: how much interest your bank reported, what your broker told the depository, what your mutual fund AMC filed, what GSTN sent over.
Form 26AS is still active and remains essential — it continues to carry TDS credits, TCS credits, advance tax paid, self-assessment tax, and refund details. You need both documents. Neither alone is sufficient for a complete pre-filing review.
AIS vs Form 26AS vs TIS: Three Documents, One Reconciliation
Understanding how these three documents fit together prevents the most common pre-filing error: relying on one and ignoring the others.
| Document | Primary Purpose | Where to Access |
|---|---|---|
| Form 26AS | TDS deducted, TCS collected, advance tax, self-assessment tax, refund details | Services → Form 26AS (via TRACES) |
| AIS | Transaction-level data across 50+ categories: interest, dividends, capital gains, LRS, rent, GST turnover, VDAs | Services → Annual Information Statement |
| TIS | Aggregated summary of AIS — collapsed to return-ready income heads; shows reported value vs. derived (accepted) value | Downloaded alongside AIS from the AIS portal |
TIS is the document that actually feeds your pre-filled ITR. When you submit feedback on an AIS entry and the system processes it, TIS updates accordingly. If TIS reflects an income figure that is higher than what you plan to report in your ITR — without feedback to explain the difference — the automated processing system under Section 143(1) will flag the mismatch and issue an intimation with additional demand. In many cases this happens within eight to twelve weeks of filing.
What Your AIS Captures for AY 2026-27
Your AIS for FY 2025-26 is divided into Part A (general identification: PAN, name, date of birth, Aadhaar, mobile, email) and Part B (the actual transaction data). Part B is where the real review work happens. Here is what the department is looking at.
Salary and Pension
Employers file TDS returns on Form 24Q, which feeds your Form 26AS (TDS credit) and your AIS (salary reported). Cross-check Part B salary figures against your Form 16 Part B. Where two employers exist in the same year — a job change mid-year, for instance — both figures appear. Ensure the total ties to what you declare under the head Salaries.
Interest Income
- Savings bank interest (often below the TDS threshold of Rs. 10,000 but still reported by banks under SFT)
- Fixed deposit and recurring deposit interest — reported on an accrual basis, not at maturity or when credited
- Interest on bonds, debentures, and Post Office schemes above the threshold
The accrual point catches thousands of taxpayers every year. If your Rs. 15,00,000 fixed deposit earns 7% per annum, the bank reports Rs. 1,05,000 in AIS for FY 2025-26 — even if the FD matures in FY 2027-28. You must report this under Income from Other Sources now. Waiting until maturity and trying to correct it then is far messier than getting it right annually.
Dividends
Listed company dividends and mutual fund IDCW (Income Distribution cum Capital Withdrawal) payouts are reported by companies and AMCs. Since the abolition of the Dividend Distribution Tax regime, dividends are fully taxable in the hands of the recipient at applicable slab rates. Every dividend entry in AIS must find its way into your ITR under Income from Other Sources.
Securities and Mutual Fund Transactions
Depositories (NSDL and CDSL) and the exchanges (BSE/NSE) report every buy and sell transaction at the security level. The capital gains derived from these entries — STCG and LTCG — must reconcile with your broker's capital gains statement and the Consolidated Account Statement (CAS) from CAMS or KFintech for mutual funds.
Applicable rates for AY 2026-27 (post the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 amendments, fully effective for FY 2025-26):
- LTCG on listed equity and equity-oriented MFs above Rs. 1,25,000: 12.5% (no indexation)
- STCG on STT-paid listed equity: 20%
- Debt MF / bond capital gains: taxed at applicable slab rate (indexation benefit removed for acquisitions after 1 April 2023)
Property Transactions
Purchase or sale of immovable property above Rs. 30,00,000 is reported by the Sub-Registrar under SFT. Rent payments above Rs. 50,000 per month, where TDS should have been deducted by the tenant under Section 194-IB, are also captured. If you sold a property and the AIS figure shows the stamp duty value rather than the agreed consideration, verify whether Section 50C applies and document the actual sale price.
Foreign Remittances and Overseas Assets
Remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) — whether for foreign investments, overseas education fees, or travel — are reported by authorised dealer banks under Rule 114H. Income from foreign assets reported under CRS (Common Reporting Standard) and FATCA — dividends from US stocks, interest from NRE/NRO accounts held abroad — also flows into AIS.
If you hold foreign bank accounts, foreign equity, or foreign mutual funds, you must file Schedule FA (Foreign Assets) in ITR-2 or ITR-3. Failure to disclose foreign assets is not merely a tax issue — it is a potential offence under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, with penalties that can equal the value of the undisclosed asset.
GST Turnover for Proprietors and Partners
GSTN pipes annual turnover data into AIS for every registered taxpayer. If you are a proprietor or a partner whose firm is GST-registered, your AIS will show your reported GST turnover. The department's systems now cross-reference this against business income declared in your ITR. A significant gap between turnover and net income declared — without adequate expense documentation — is a high-probability trigger for scrutiny.
Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs)
TDS under Section 194S at 1% applies to VDA transfers where consideration exceeds Rs. 10,000 in a transaction (or Rs. 50,000 per financial year for specified persons such as individuals below the business or professional turnover threshold). The gross transfer amount is what appears in AIS — not the gain. A VDA sale with proceeds of Rs. 2,00,000 and an acquisition cost of Rs. 1,40,000 will show Rs. 2,00,000 in AIS. The income taxable under Section 115BBH is Rs. 60,000. Critically, losses from one VDA cannot be set off against gains from another VDA in the same year, nor can they be carried forward.
How to Access and Download Your AIS for AY 2026-27: Step by Step
- Go to [www.incometax.gov.in](https://www.incometax.gov.in) and log in with your PAN and password.
- On the dashboard, navigate to the Services tab in the top navigation bar.
- Click Annual Information Statement (AIS). This opens the AIS portal in a new browser tab.
- Select the financial year — FY 2025-26 — for AY 2026-27.
- Click Download. Choose:
- PDF — human-readable; the password is your date of birth in
DDMMYYYYformat. - JSON — machine-readable; useful if you are importing into accounting software or want to build a reconciliation spreadsheet.
- Download the TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary) from the same screen — this is the aggregated file that mirrors your pre-filled ITR inputs.
- Also download Form 26AS from the TRACES link under the same Services tab — you need the TDS credit figures to reconcile against AIS transaction figures.
Timing matters. Most reporting entities must file their SFTs by 31 May 2026 for FY 2025-26. If you download AIS in early May, some entries may not yet be populated. Pull your AIS once around 10–15 June 2026 for a reasonably complete picture, and check it again two to three days before you file in case late SFT filers have added entries.
How to Use the AIS Feedback Mechanism — and Why It Matters
If an entry in your AIS is wrong — wrong amount, wrong year, wrong PAN — you do not simply report a different figure in your ITR without explanation. That creates a direct mismatch, which the system reads as an underreporting signal. The correct procedure is to submit feedback within the AIS portal itself, which triggers an update to TIS.
The five feedback options:
- Information is correct — you agree with the entry; report it in your ITR accordingly.
- Information is not fully correct — the entry exists but the amount, date, or counterparty detail is inaccurate. Select this and enter the correct value with a brief explanation.
- Information relates to other PAN / year — the transaction belongs to another person or to a different financial year than FY 2025-26.
- Information is duplicate / included in other information — the same transaction has been double-reported, for example by both a broker and a depository registrar.
- Information is denied — you have no knowledge of or involvement in this transaction whatsoever.
What happens after feedback is submitted? The reporting entity is notified and given an opportunity to confirm or contest your feedback. If they confirm, TIS updates. If they do not respond or dispute your feedback, the original data remains. In that scenario, report the transaction in your ITR at the correct figure supported by documentary evidence — bank statement, contract note, sale deed — and retain that evidence for at least six years in case of scrutiny.
One important caution: Feedback is not an erasure. The entry remains visible in the department's system regardless of your feedback status. Your ITR position and your feedback must be consistent with each other and with your source documents. Internally inconsistent responses — for example, denying a transaction that your Form 26AS shows TDS was deducted on — are far more likely to prompt inquiry than a straightforward disclosure of a correct figure with feedback explaining why the AIS amount differs.
Worked Example: Reconciling AIS Before Filing ITR
Priya is a salaried professional in the 30% tax slab who also holds fixed deposits, mutual funds, and made a small investment in cryptocurrency during FY 2025-26. Here is how her AIS reconciliation unfolds.
| AIS Entry | Amount in AIS (Rs.) | Priya's Own Records (Rs.) | Variance | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salary — Employer A | 14,40,000 | Form 16 Part B: 14,40,000 | Nil | Mark correct; report in ITR |
| FD Interest — Bank X | 82,000 | Passbook credit: 68,000 | Rs. 14,000 | Bank reports on accrual; report Rs. 82,000 in ITR; claim TDS credit of Rs. 8,200 (10% TDS) |
| Dividend — Listed Co. | 31,500 | Dividend warrants total: 31,500 | Nil | Report under Other Sources |
| MF Redemption (equity LTCG) | 4,20,000 (proceeds) | CAS: cost Rs. 2,90,000; LTCG Rs. 1,30,000 | Nil | Report LTCG; exemption Rs. 1,25,000; taxable Rs. 5,000 @ 12.5% = Rs. 625 |
| VDA transfer (exchange) | 1,50,000 (gross proceeds) | Exchange history: cost Rs. 1,10,000; gain Rs. 40,000 | Nil | Report Rs. 40,000 u/s 115BBH; claim TDS credit of Rs. 1,500 (1%) from Form 26AS |
| LRS Remittance | 8,00,000 | Foreign stock purchase | No income yet | Report foreign asset in Schedule FA of ITR-2; watch for dividend income in AIS |
The FD interest variance in practice: Priya planned to report Rs. 68,000 based on her passbook, because that is what was physically credited during FY 2025-26. AIS shows Rs. 82,000 because the bank reports on an accrual basis and the FD's unpaid interest for the partial period is included. If she files Rs. 68,000, the automated processing system flags a Rs. 14,000 shortfall. At her 30% slab, additional tax = Rs. 4,200, plus interest under Section 234B and 234C from the due date. Correct approach: report Rs. 82,000, claim the Rs. 8,200 TDS credit already visible in Form 26AS, and pay the balance tax before filing. The net exposure from doing this right is minimal; the exposure from ignoring it is a notice, a demand, and accumulating interest.
Common Mistakes and Pitfalls to Avoid
1. Treating the Pre-Filled ITR as Final
The pre-filled ITR draws from TIS, which reflects AIS as it stood when you last opened the portal. If you open the pre-filled form in early May before SFTs are fully filed, you may be working with an incomplete picture. Always compare the pre-filled values against your own records before accepting them.
2. Reporting FD Interest on a Cash Basis
AIS reports interest on accrual. Your passbook reports interest when credited. These diverge on multi-year FDs. Many taxpayers discover three years of accruals lumped into a demand in the year their FD matures. Matching AIS entries against your bank's interest certificate — not the passbook — resolves this every time.
3. Missing Dividends from Dormant Holdings
Dividends from shares you bought years ago and have not actively tracked appear in AIS. Even Rs. 200 or Rs. 500 from a legacy holding creates a mismatch if not reported. Run a dividend report from your demat account (NSDL/CDSL) for the full year and tick off every AIS dividend entry.
4. Ignoring Capital Gains Entries from a Former Broker
If you switched brokers during FY 2025-26, both the old and new broker may report transactions. Check for entries that appear twice in AIS, reconcile against your trade confirmations, and submit a duplicate feedback where warranted.
5. Not Filing Schedule FA for LRS Remittances
LRS remittances appear in AIS. If you used those funds to buy foreign stocks, bonds, or open a foreign bank account, you are required to file Schedule FA in ITR-2 or ITR-3 for every year in which you hold those assets — even in a year with no new remittance. The Black Money Act penalties for non-disclosure are severe and are assessed on the asset value, not just the income.
6. Using the Wrong AIS Feedback Option
Selecting "Information is denied" when the transaction is genuinely yours but the amount is wrong is counterproductive. The reporting entity has already filed a transaction in your PAN. The department sees the denial as a potential evasion signal. Use "Information is not fully correct" and enter the corrected figure instead.
7. Filing Before AIS Data Has Stabilised
If you file in the last week of May, before most SFTs have been processed, and an entry is added to your AIS after filing, you will need a revised return (permissible until 31 December 2026 for AY 2026-27). Filing in late June or July once the AIS has stabilised is safer for most taxpayers.
Practical Reconciliation Checklist: What to Do Before You Hit Submit
Use this in the two weeks before you file your AY 2026-27 ITR:
- [ ] Download AIS (PDF) and TIS for FY 2025-26 from the e-filing portal
- [ ] Download Form 26AS from TRACES; confirm TDS credits match your Form 16 and Form 16A
- [ ] Pull bank statements and your bank's interest certificate for every FD/RD; reconcile against AIS interest entries on an accrual basis
- [ ] Obtain capital gains statement from every broker; cross-check against AIS securities transaction entries; reconcile with CAMS/KFintech CAS
- [ ] List all dividends received; confirm every AIS dividend entry is captured in your ITR
- [ ] If you made LRS remittances: confirm foreign assets are reported in Schedule FA of ITR-2/3; check for any foreign-source income in Schedule FSI
- [ ] If you traded VDAs: match gross proceeds in AIS against your exchange transaction history; confirm 1% TDS credit appears in Form 26AS under Section 194S
- [ ] For proprietors/partners: compare AIS GST turnover against your GSTR-3B/GSTR-9 filings; document all reconciling items
- [ ] Submit AIS feedback on every incorrect, duplicate, or other-year/PAN entry; note the feedback option selected and the reason
- [ ] Wait for TIS to reflect accepted feedback before generating the final pre-filled ITR XML
- [ ] Trace every income figure in your final ITR back to either the AIS entry, Form 26AS, or a documentary source on file
Filing deadlines for AY 2026-27 (FY 2025-26):
- Non-audit cases: 31 July 2026
- Audit cases: 31 October 2026
- Revised return (for non-audit): up to 31 December 2026
Key Takeaways
- AIS is evidentiary, not advisory. The department uses it as the baseline for Section 143(1) automated processing and for selecting cases for Section 143(2) scrutiny. A return that conflicts with AIS without filed feedback is treated as a red flag, not an oversight.
- Accrual vs. cash on FD interest is the most common mismatch. Always reconcile AIS interest figures against your bank's interest certificate — not your passbook or TDS certificate alone.
- Three documents, one coherent picture. AIS (transaction detail) + Form 26AS (tax credits) + TIS (aggregated pre-fill source) must all be reconciled before you file. A gap in any one of the three shows up in your return.
- Submit feedback, then wait for TIS to update. Filing immediately after submitting feedback — before TIS reflects the change — defeats the purpose. Give the system at least 24–48 hours to update.
- LRS remittances carry Schedule FA obligations. Foreign assets must be disclosed annually for as long as you hold them, regardless of whether income was generated in that year.
- VDA losses cannot offset VDA gains. Section 115BBH is explicit: no intra-head set-off and no carry-forward of VDA losses. Report each VDA transaction on its own merits.
- Begin your AIS review in June, not July. Reconciliation across AIS, Form 26AS, bank statements, CAS, and Form 16 takes a week of focused work for most taxpayers with diversified portfolios. Starting in June gives you time to raise feedback, wait for responses, and file a complete, notice-proof return before the 31 July 2026 deadline.
