How To Access Annual Information Statement (AIS) On e-Filing Portal?

The Income Tax Department announced yesterday, November 14, 2021, that taxpayers can now access the new Annual Information Statement (AIS) through the e-Filing portal. In a Tweet, the department has clarified that "Check out the new Annual Information Statement(AIS). Provides a comprehensive view of information available with ITD about taxpayer. Click on link 'AIS' under 'Services' tab on http://incometax.gov.in to access." The Income Tax Department launched the new Annual Information Statement (AIS) on the Compliance Portal at the beginning of this month, which offers a taxpayer a detailed overview of information as well as the option to submit online feedback. Now, let's learn everything there is to know about the new Annual Information Statement (AIS) and how to access it.

What’s new about the Annual Information Statement (AIS)?

Additional information on interest, dividends, securities transactions, mutual fund transactions, foreign remittance, etc is now included in the new AIS. Duplicate information has been eliminated from the reports submitted and now the information from the AIS will be available in PDF, JSON, and CSV formats for taxpayers to access or download.

The Annual Information Statement (AIS) encompasses details that currently have a record with the tax department. Hence, taxpayers should need to keep in mind that additional transactions involving the taxpayer that are not currently included in the Annual Information Statement may emerge, therefore they should double-check all relevant information and fill out the Income Tax Return completely and accurately.

What’s the role of Form 26AS now?

Taxpayers who have their active Permanent Account Number can get a copy of Form 26AS, which is an annual consolidated tax statement, on the e-Filing portal. On October 26, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) released an order under Section 285BB of the Income Tax Act that disclosed additional information in the new Form 26AS. The new Form 26AS which has been renamed as 'Annual Information Statement' and Form 26AS will be displayed on the TRACES portal in conjunction until the new AIS is verified and fully functioning.

What’s the role of online Feedback option?

A service has been made available for the taxpayer to make online feedback if they consider the record is erroneous or is duplicate. Taxpayers can also use an AIS Utility to monitor AIS and input feedback in an offline mode. In the AIS, the stated figure and the value following feedback will be displayed separately. If the information is changed or rejected, the source of the information may be addressed for verification.

Taxpayers should and should review the information in the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and submit feedback if any of it needs to be changed. While submitting the ITR, the figure stated in the Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) may be taken into account. If the ITR has already been submitted and some information has been left out, the return can be updated to add the missing information by the taxpayer.

What is Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS)?

For each taxpayer, a simplified Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) has been prepared, which presents the taxpayer's aggregated value for simplicity of filing his or her income tax return. According to the Income Tax Department "TIS shows the processed value (i.e. the value generated after deduplication of information
based on predefined rules) and derived value (i.e. the value derived after considering the taxpayer feedback and processed value)." The resulting statistics in TIS will be immediately modified in real-time if the taxpayer submits feedback on AIS. The TIS-generated information will be utilized to pre-fill the return which will be permitted phase by phase.

What to do if there is an error in Form 26AS?

If there is a discrepancy between the TDS/TCS details or tax payment details represented in Form 26AS on the TRACES portal and the TDS/TCS details or tax payment details depicted in AIS on the Compliance Portal, the taxpayer can rely on the records presented on the TRACES portal for ITR filing and other tax compliance purposes. Taxpayers can review the AIS documents (AIS Handbook, Presentation, User Guide, and FAQs) under the "Resources" section or contact the helpdesk through the "Help" section on the AIS Homepage if they have any concerns.

How to access the new Annual Information Statement (AIS)?

• Taxpayers can visit the e-filing portal (https://www.incometax.gov.in) and log in using their PAN, Aadhaar, or User ID.
• Now head to the 'Services' section and click on 'Annual Information Statement (AIS)'.
• To download the AIS statement in PDF format, select either the PDF or JSON option and click 'Download.'
• Now open the PDF format of AIS and enter your PAN and date of birth as password in order to access it.