What Is AIS in Income Tax Filing and Why It is Important?

What Is AIS?

The AIS (Annual Information statement) is a document that is released by the Income Tax Department that shows all your financial transactions for a specific tax year in one place. AIS provides a detailed overview of information for a taxpayer in Form 26AS, which includes details from banks, investment companies, and other institutions.

It shows details like your salary income, interest earned, dividend income, stock market transactions, and big purchases. The AIS also shows both the reported and updated values, so you can check the information and highlight any mistakes. This makes it a useful tool for filing accurate tax returns.

Why AIS is Important in Income Tax Filling:

Annual Information System (AIS) and Form 26AS are important tools for filing income tax returns. Using Form 26AS to check the AIS, taxpayers can get a clear picture of their tax credits and liabilities. This helps them to find any errors or missing information by comparing the data in their own records with Form 26AS.

AIS shows two types of values for each detail such as reported value, the reported value is what the reporting entities have provided and the modified value, shows any changes made after the taxpayer’s feedback.

AIS consists wide range of financial information:

AIS consists wide range of financial information like: Tax Deduction at Source (TDS), Tax Collected at Source (TCS), Specified financial transactions (STF), Payment of Taxes, Demands and Refunds, and Pending and Completed Proceedings, This information helps taxpayers check their income and tax payments, confirming accurate tax filling.

How to Download?

Taxpayers can access their AIS by visiting the Income-Tax Department’s e-filing portal at https://www.incometax.gov.in. After logging in with their credentials, they should click on the ‘Services’ tab and choose ‘Annual Information Statement’. Then they can view and download the AIS for the selected financial year in either PDF or JSON format.