Income-Tax Return: A Brief Note on Annual Information Statement (AIS)

The Income-Tax (I-T) Department has directed taxpayers to access the Annual Information Statement (AIS) via the e-filing official portal and review the AIS. In case any discrepancies, mismatches, or missing details are flagged, a taxpayer should update the ITRs (ITR-U). 

Typically, AIS, which was unveiled in November 2021, provides taxpayers with a single comprehensive statement on all their financial transactions undertaken in a particular financial year. The AIS can be accessed on the income tax portal and includes financial transactions reported by banks, registrar and transfer agents (RTAs), stock exchanges, etc, with the I-T department.

AIS comprises two components: Part A (General Information of the taxpayer) and Part B (Tax Deducted at Source/ Tax Collected at Source (TDS/TCS) Information)

Part A: This component of AIS comprises a taxpayer’s general information, including name, Permanent Account Number (PAN), masked Aadhaar number, date of birth, mobile number, e-mail ID, address details, etc. 

Part B: This component contains a taxpayer’s financial transaction information, including TDS, TCS, specified financial transactions (SFTs), payment of taxes, demand and refund, gains from other sources such as lottery, winning crossword puzzle or horse race, etc, receipt of accumulated balance from the provident fund (PF), interest from bonds, government securities (G-Secs), offshore fund, shares of Indian companies, insurance commission, etc.

An AIS supports a core objective, which is to enable the seamless filing of income tax returns (ITRs) for taxpayers, promote voluntary compliance, and, most the crucial part is to deter non-compliance.

A Step-by-Step Approach to Access AIS:

• Log in to the I-T e-filing website
• Select the Annual Information Statement (AIS) under the ‘Services’ tab on the dashboard
• Click on the ‘Proceed’ button, which will redirect a taxpayer to the AIS portal
• Click on the AIS tab to view it

Alternatively,

• Log in to the I-T e-filing website
• Click the ‘e-File’ menu
• Click on Income Tax Return and go to view AIS
• Open the AIS tab to view it

The Process of Error Rectification in AIS:

If a feels that the information displayed in AIS for the given assessment year (AY) lacks accuracy, then they can submit a corrected response. Evaluation of all entries of the statement, including personal information and financial transactions, could be undertaken.

Follow these steps to correct the error in the AIS:

• Log in to the I-T e-filing portal
• Select ‘Annual Information Statement (AIS)’, which is under the ‘Services’ tab
• A new window will be displayed, highlighting two options: Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) and Annual Information Statement (AIS)
• Click on the AIS
• A new window will appear; this will display Part A and Part B of the AIS
• Choose the information that is not correct
• Select ‘Optional’ to submit the feedback
• Seven options will be available to a taxpayer. From the drop-down menu, select the option applicable
• Click on ‘Submit’

The status will be updated in real-time once a taxpayer submits feedback.