Avoid Tax Notice: Correct Mismatches Between Form 16 and AIS Before Filing ITR:

Avoid Tax Notice: Correct Mismatches Between Form 16 and AIS Before Filing ITR Most taxpayers are confronted with the problem of mismatch between Form 16 and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) while filing ITR. Any Discrepancy can lead to an income tax notice by the Income Tax Department. The employer provides Form 16 as a TDS certificate that contains details about your yearly salary and source-based tax deductions. The AIS represents an electronic system that includes your complete set of reported financial activities from the year and exists on the tax e-filing website. There should not be any difference in the information provided in Form 16 and AIS, but sometimes they do not match.  

What Causes the Mismatch?

The difference in the information provided in Form 16 and AIS can be caused due to the following reasons:

• Duplicate or missing data.
• Incorrect PAN or TAN number from your bank or employer.
• Mismatch in how information is submitted.
• Switching to different jobs multiple times during the year.
• Technical errors or old data on the AIS portal.
• Delay in updating the TDS information.

How to Check if There is a Mismatch?

• Get Form 16 from your employer or download it from the payroll portal.
• Download AIS from the Income Tax portal.
• Compare the details in both documents, like salary, interest income, TDS amounts, etc.
• You can also check Form 26AS, which shows all TDS linked to your PAN.

Steps to Correct the Errors

• Reach out to your employer or bank to correct the error. They will need to update their TDS return.
• In case there’s an error in AIS, you can submit online feedback on the Income Tax portal. Mark the incorrect information as "incorrect" and give a short explanation.
• Make sure your ITR has the correct details before filing to avoid any problems later.