AIS vs Form 26AS: what shows where, and how do you flag a wrong transaction in your AIS?

The Scenario

You log in to file your return for AY 2026-27 and open your Annual Information Statement (AIS). Alongside your genuine salary TDS, the AIS lists Rs 1,20,000 of "interest from deposits" that you never earned - it belongs to a fixed deposit held by a relative on whose account your PAN was wrongly quoted. On the same screen, your Form 26AS on the TRACES portal shows a clean, much shorter list: only the tax deducted and collected against your PAN. The two statements disagree, and you are unsure which one the Assessing Officer will trust.

This split is deliberate, not a glitch. Per the Income Tax Department's AIS FAQ, from AY 2023-24 onwards the Annual Tax Statement (Form 26AS) available on the TRACES portal displays only TDS and TCS related data, while every other reported transaction - dividends, savings and deposit interest, mutual fund and securities activity, property deals and GST turnover - now sits inside the AIS. If you accept the wrong Rs 1,20,000 entry, it can flow into your pre-filled return and inflate your total income by the same amount. The fix is a feedback submission that takes minutes, and this article walks through exactly how to make it stick.

Statutory Answer

The AIS and the reformatted Form 26AS both draw their authority from Section 285BB of the Income-tax Act, 1961, titled "Annual Information Statement", inserted by the Finance Act, 2020 with effect from 1 June 2020. The section directs the prescribed income-tax authority to upload, in the taxpayer's registered account, an annual information statement in the prescribed form containing prescribed information within the prescribed time. The mechanics are set by Rule 114-I of the Income-tax Rules, 1962, which prescribes the new-format Form 26AS and was brought in with effect from the same date, 1 June 2020.

The raw data that populates these statements is filed by banks, companies, registrars, mutual funds and sub-registrars under the Statement of Financial Transactions regime in Section 285BA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, read with Rule 114E. A bank reporting deposit interest, or a company reporting a dividend, files an SFT that the Department maps to your PAN. Because that mapping can go wrong, the Central Board of Direct Taxes launched the comprehensive AIS on 1 November 2021 with a built-in correction channel: a feedback facility that lets you contest any line item. You can learn the underlying vocabulary in Oquilia's glossary entries for the Annual Information Statement and Form 26AS.

Crucially, filing feedback does not itself change your tax. Section 285BB creates an information statement, not an assessment. Your legal duty to report the correct income in your Income Tax Return under Section 139 is unchanged. What feedback does is correct the "derived value" the system carries forward, which feeds your pre-filled return and heads off an automated mismatch enquiry - for example a prima facie adjustment under Section 143(1) or a notice under the e-Verification Scheme, 2021, notified on 13 December 2021. Getting the statement right before you file is therefore the cheapest form of dispute avoidance available.

What shows where: Form 26AS versus AIS

Both statements are reached after logging in at the income-tax portal. Form 26AS is opened through e-File then Income Tax Return then View Form 26AS, which redirects to TRACES; the AIS is opened by clicking the "Annual Information Statement (AIS)" tile on the dashboard, then Proceed, then the AIS tile for the chosen year. The table below reflects the position from AY 2023-24 onwards.

The AIS also generates a companion document, the Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS), described by the Department as an information category-wise aggregated information summary. TIS shows two figures per category: the "processed value" the system computes and the "derived value" after your feedback and source confirmations. It is the derived value that flows into return pre-filling, which is why correcting the AIS matters even when Form 26AS looks fine. To see how your withholding tally should read, cross-check against the TDS calculator and the TDS glossary entry.

Worked Resolution

Take a salaried reader, gross salary Rs 14,00,000 for FY 2025-26, filing under the new tax regime. Their AIS wrongly carries the Rs 1,20,000 "interest from deposits" described above, mapped from a relative's fixed deposit. Watch what that single erroneous line does to the tax if it is left uncontested and accepted into the return.

Under the new regime for FY 2025-26, salary income is first reduced by the standard deduction of Rs 75,000, giving Rs 13,25,000. The erroneous interest of Rs 1,20,000 would be taxed as income from other sources on top, since the standard deduction applies only to salary. The comparison below uses the FY 2025-26 new-regime slabs and the 4 per cent health and education cess.

The wrong entry costs an extra Rs 18,720 - the Rs 1,20,000 taxed at the 15 per cent slab rate plus cess (Rs 18,000 plus Rs 720). That is money the reader would surrender for interest they never received. Because total income here exceeds Rs 12,00,000, the Section 87A rebate of Rs 60,000 available in the new regime for FY 2025-26 does not apply at either figure, so the entire slab difference bites. You can reproduce these numbers in the income tax calculator and test the regime choice in the old versus new regime tool.

To clear the entry, open the AIS, click the specific information line, and use the "Optional" button in the Feedback column to select a feedback option and enter the details. The Department's FAQ confirms there is no limit on how many times you can modify previously given feedback, so an incorrect first attempt can be revised freely. Choose the option that fits the defect; the standard set is set out below.

For the Rs 1,20,000 interest that belongs to a relative's account, the correct choice is "Information relates to other PAN/Year". Once submitted, the derived value in the TIS updates, the amount is dropped from your pre-filled figures, and the record shows your feedback against the source's reported value. If the reporting bank later confirms the correction, the entry is resolved at source; if it does not, your feedback still stands on record as your documented position, which is exactly what you want on hand if a query arrives. Keep the acknowledgement, because a clean AIS is the simplest defence against a refund being held back - a scenario covered in Oquilia's guide on how to respond to an outstanding demand notice.

FAQ

Does submitting AIS feedback reduce my tax automatically?

No. Section 285BB creates an information statement, not an assessment order. Feedback corrects the derived value in your TIS and your pre-filled return, but you must still report the correct income in your ITR under Section 139. The Rs 18,720 saving in the worked example above is realised only when you actually exclude the wrong Rs 1,20,000 from the return you file.

Form 26AS still looks incomplete compared with earlier years - is that a problem?

No. From AY 2023-24 onwards the TRACES Form 26AS is designed to show only TDS and TCS data, per the Income Tax Department's AIS FAQ. Everything that used to appear there - SFT, advance tax, refunds - now lives in the AIS. A shorter Form 26AS is the intended design, not missing data.

How many times can I revise my AIS feedback?

There is no limit. The Department's FAQ states that there is currently no cap on the number of times you can modify previously given feedback, so if you pick the wrong option or mistype a value, you can correct it as often as needed before you file for AY 2026-27.

What is the difference between AIS and TIS?

The AIS is the detailed, transaction-level statement built under Section 285BB and Rule 114-I. The TIS, or Taxpayer Information Summary, is the category-wise aggregated view that shows a processed value and a derived value for each head of income. Your feedback changes the derived value, and it is that derived value which feeds return pre-filling.

The AIS shows a mutual fund or share sale I need to report - where do I compute the tax?

Securities and mutual fund transactions surface in the AIS under SFT because of Section 285BA reporting. Compute the resulting gain in the capital gains calculator; long-term gains on listed equity are taxed at 12.5 per cent above the annual exemption threshold under the rates effective from 23 July 2024.

Can a wrong AIS entry trigger a notice even if I file correctly?

It can. An unresolved mismatch between your AIS and your return can prompt a prima facie adjustment under Section 143(1) or an enquiry under the e-Verification Scheme, 2021, notified on 13 December 2021. Filing feedback before you submit your return, and retaining the acknowledgement, is the practical way to pre-empt that enquiry.

Does correcting my AIS help with advance tax planning?

Yes, indirectly. A clean AIS gives an accurate income picture, which matters if you owe advance tax across the four instalments during the year. Once the disputed income is removed, size your liability with the income tax calculator and review the timing rules in Oquilia's note on why presumptive taxpayers must clear advance tax in one instalment by 15 March.