How to Check AIS Before Filing Your ITR
Use this practical AIS checklist before filing your ITR: review income, TDS/TCS, investments, tax payments and other reported information against your records.
Quick Answer
Before filing the ITR, download and review AIS and compare its entries with your salary, bank, investment, broker, TDS/TCS and tax-payment records. Investigate material differences and submit feedback where appropriate before finalising the return.
Why Check AIS Before Filing?
The Income Tax Department describes AIS as a comprehensive view of information available for a taxpayer before filing the return and provides a facility for feedback on eligible information. Reviewing AIS can therefore be a useful pre-filing reconciliation step.
Step 1: Check Your General Information
Confirm that the general information shown in AIS relates to you and review the displayed taxpayer details.
Step 2: Check TDS and TCS
Compare TDS/TCS information with Form 16, Form 16A, Form 26AS and other supporting records as applicable.
Step 3: Check Interest and Dividends
Compare interest and dividend information with bank statements, certificates, broker records and investment statements.
Step 4: Check Investment and Transaction Information
Review securities, mutual funds, property or other financial transactions shown in AIS and compare them with your own records.
Step 5: Check Tax Payments
Compare tax-payment information with challans, payment confirmations and your records of advance or self-assessment tax.
Step 6: Resolve Important Differences
Investigate significant differences. Where an AIS item is eligible for feedback, submit the appropriate feedback after reviewing the supporting evidence.
Step 7: File Using Complete Information
AIS is not a substitute for the taxpayer's complete records. The Income Tax Department states that other transactions may not be displayed in AIS, so the ITR should be prepared using all relevant information.
How EZTax Helps
EZTax's AIS-assisted workflow can organize reported information and help taxpayers review and reconcile income and tax information as part of ITR preparation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is AIS reconciliation mandatory?
There is no general requirement to download AIS merely because it is available. Reviewing it before filing can nevertheless help identify differences in information available with the Department.
Should I compare AIS with Form 26AS?
Yes. Form 26AS and AIS provide different information coverage, and comparing relevant tax-credit information can help identify discrepancies.
What if everything in AIS looks correct?
You should still prepare the ITR using complete and accurate information from all relevant sources, because AIS may not display every transaction.
Related EZTax Resources
- What Is AIS (Annual Information Statement) in Income Tax?
- AIS vs Form 26AS: What Is the Difference?
- How to Correct Incorrect Information in AIS
- AIS Reconciliation & AI-Powered Income Tax Filing with EZTax
- How to Download AIS Statement
