ITR Filing: How to fix errors in your Annual Information Statement (AIS)?

Earlier this month, the income tax department launched a new Annual Information Statement (AIS) on the income tax portal.

The AIS is all set to replace the current tax credit statement, Form 26AS. Form 26AS presents all the taxpayer information related to tax deducted, advance taxes and self-assessment taxes paid. Over the years, the income tax department has widened the scope of information presented in Form 26AS. Now, AIS is all set to further expand the scope of Form 26AS with additional details like high-value transactions, mutual fund purchase, dividend income details, off-market transactions, foreign remittance details, etc., which is reflected in one statement.

The income tax department has integrated this new AIS with the return filing process for its further simplification. The new AIS will pull out data and enable the pre-filling of the returns for taxpayers. The pre-filling of data will happen gradually, in a phased manner.  

One of the unique features of AIS is that the taxpayers can provide online feedback if any information is not accurate or pertains to another person or assessment year. 

There are chances that some of the transactions reflected in the AIS statement are duplicated, pertain to the previous year or are not related to the taxpayer. 

The taxpayers should double-check the accuracy of the information reported in AIS along with the original source and Form 26AS. In case of any errors, feedback can be offered if any information needs to be corrected. 

Let us see how the taxpayer can address the errors in AIS online by following the instructions below:

• Log in using your PAN and password to the new income tax e-filing portal.
• Under the ‘Services’ tab, click on Annual Information Statement (AIS) from the drop-down menu and click on ‘proceed’ to be redirected to the AIS homepage.
• A new window of AIS will open; you can select the ‘AIS tab’ from the top.
• Next, you will get two options to select, i.e. Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) and Annual Information Statement (AIS).
• Click on (AIS), and the next page will appear in two parts.
• Part A will have General Information like PAN, mobile number, email address, date of birth, name as per PAN, etc.
• Part B includes TDS/TCS Information, Specified Financial Transactions (SFT) Information, payments of taxes, demands and refunds, and other information.
• If any information reflected in Part B is incorrect, click on its row. A new table with ‘details’ will appear below the information which needs to be corrected. Click on ‘optional’ under the feedback column.
• A feedback window will appear; you can select the ‘feedback type’ from the drop-down. The drop-down has these options:
  • Information is correct
  • Income is not taxable
  • Information is not fully correct
  • Information relates to other PAN/year
  • Information is duplicated/included in other information.
  • Information is denied
• Once you select your feedback type, click on ‘Submit’ to let the Income Tax Department fix your errors.

The new AIS will enhance voluntary compliance by the taxpayers. Taxpayers have to be more vigilant with their ITR filing requirements and income tax provisions. 

Also, taxpayers should start reviewing the new AIS statement in intervals to ensure all the details are reported correctly and raise the feedback immediately for any errors.

For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at jyoti.arora@cleartax.in