Income Tax: What are Form 16, AIS and 26AS? An explainer
Financial year 2024-25 has ended long ago and taxpayers are busy arranging necessary documents to be able to start the process of filing of income tax (I-T) return. When salaried taxpayers approach their chartered accountant for filing their income tax return, s/he typically asks him for form-16 which is a TDS certificate issued by the employer to employee.
In other words, it is a statement that shows tax deducted by the employer on behalf of the employee.
Aside from form 16, other documents which you need at the time of filing of income tax return are form 26AS which is a tax credit statement, and AIS which is a comprehensive view of information for a taxpayer displayed in form 26AS. Let us understand more about these documents in detail.
Form 16: It is a TDS certificate issued by an employer to an employee. It is proof that the employer deposited the tax with the tax authorities.
Form 26AS: It is a consolidated Annual Information Statement for a particular Financial Year (FY). It contains the details of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), Tax Collected at Source (TCS), advance tax / self-assessment tax / regular assessment tax deposited, refund received during a financial year (if any),
Details of any specified financial transactions (SFT), details of tax deducted on sale of immovable property under section 194 IA (in case of seller of such property), TDS defaults (if any), information relating to demand and refund and information relating to pending and completed proceedings.
Annual Information Statement: AIS is a comprehensive view of information for a taxpayer displayed in Form 26AS. Taxpayers can provide feedback on information displayed in AIS. It shows both reported value and modified value (i.e. value after considering taxpayer feedback) under each section (i.e. TDS, SFT, Other information).
AIS meets these purposes:
1. Shows complete information to the taxpayer with a provision to capture online feedback
2. Encourages voluntary compliance and enables prefilling of return
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