AIS and Form 26AS mismatches: what to check before accepting a tax figure

AIS, the Taxpayer Information Summary and Form 26AS are useful cross-checks. They are not substitutes for the taxpayer’s bank statements, books, contracts, invoices, interest certificates, capital-gain records and tax challans.

That distinction becomes practical when a portal amount is duplicated, belongs to another year or reflects tax deducted without showing the full income correctly. Copying the higher or lower number into the return may create a fresh error instead of resolving the mismatch.

This guide is scoped to income earned in FY2025–26 and the related AY2026–27 return. That return remains under the Income-tax Act, 1961 even though it is filed after the Income Tax Act, 2025 commenced on 01-04-2026. The CBDT transition FAQs confirm the period treatment and state that the AY2026–27 AIS reflects FY2025–26 TDS/TCS and other information under the old Act. CBDT, FAQs on interplay and transition, questions 1.12, 3.5 and 6.25–6.29.

Know what each statement is doing

AIS presents information received by the department under categories including TDS/TCS, specified financial transactions, tax payments and other information. It shows the value reported by the source and a modified value after taxpayer feedback or source confirmation.

TIS aggregates information by category. It shows a system-processed value and a value accepted by the taxpayer or confirmed by the source; the latter may be used for pre-filling where applicable. The department also says AIS contains information presently available to it and may omit other reportable transactions. The taxpayer must still report complete and accurate information. Income Tax Department, AIS FAQs.

For AY2023–24 onwards, the current TRACES FAQ says Form 26AS does not display advance tax, self-assessment tax or SFT information. Those items are available in AIS. Form 26AS continues to carry TDS/TCS information and specified transaction, refund and default categories listed by TRACES. TRACES, Form 26AS/Annual Tax Statement FAQs, updated 31-03-2026.

Use the current TRACES description for AY2026–27. Some older help pages still describe the wider historical Form 26AS content and can mislead a current-period reconciliation.

Reconcile by source and transaction, not by grand total

Download AIS, TIS and Form 26AS for the correct year. Then make a source-wise schedule. A practical schedule has the reporting source, information category, portal amount, amount supported by the taxpayer’s records, difference, reason and action.

Check income and tax credit separately. The income may be correct while the TDS is missing, or the TDS may appear while the gross income has been reported twice. Do not net one problem against the other.

Start with items that can be tied to external records:

• salary to Form 16, payslips and bank credits;

• interest to bank certificates, account statements and accrued-interest workings;

• business receipts to books, GST reconciliations and invoices;

• securities or property transactions to broker, depository and sale records;

• TDS/TCS to certificates and deductor-wise Form 26AS entries;

• advance or self-assessment tax to challans and AIS tax-payment details.

A difference is a prompt to investigate, not proof that either side is wrong.

Common reasons the figures differ

Timing is one cause. A payer may report or correct a TDS statement after the first download. CBDT’s transition guidance says tax deducted in March 2026 can still reach AY2026–27 even if the deductor deposits it after 01-04-2026, provided the Q4 FY2025–26 TDS return is filed correctly.

Classification also creates apparent mismatches. AIS may show gross sale proceeds where the return requires a gain computation, or report GST turnover that does not equal accounting revenue. A joint investment can be reported against one PAN even when beneficial ownership needs examination. Interest may be reported on a different timing basis from the books.

Other mismatches are errors: wrong PAN, wrong year, duplicate information, a cancelled transaction, an amount belonging to another taxpayer, or an incomplete deductor statement. Record the evidence for the reason selected; do not choose a feedback category merely because it produces the desired total.

A hypothetical mismatch

Assume a bank interest certificate and statements support FY2025–26 interest of ₹1,80,000 and TDS of ₹18,000. AIS contains two source records of ₹1,80,000 for the same deposit, so the category total is ₹3,60,000. Form 26AS shows only ₹9,000 of TDS.

The income working should begin from the certificate, statements and applicable recognition basis, not from an unexplained doubled AIS total. The TDS claim needs a separate credit check. Feedback on the income item does not create the missing TDS credit, and a TDS certificate alone does not repair an incorrect deductor filing.

The example assumes both AIS entries relate to the same deposit and period, the certificate is otherwise correct, and there is no accrued interest adjustment. Real cases must test those facts before calling an entry duplicate.

Use the right correction route

AIS allows feedback on active information. After submission, the reported and modified values remain visible, the activity history updates, and an acknowledgement can be downloaded. Keep that acknowledgement with the source evidence. Feedback records the taxpayer’s position; it does not guarantee that the reporting source has corrected its own statement.

For a TDS mismatch, the Income Tax Department directs the taxpayer to contact the employer or other deductor, who may need to file a revised TDS return. For a tax-payment mismatch, verify the PAN, assessment year, challan identification and amount before considering any return correction or rectification route. Income Tax Department, Tax Credit Mismatch FAQs.

Re-download the statements after a source correction and preserve both versions. Mark whether each mismatch was corrected by the source, addressed through AIS feedback, explained without correction, or remains open.

Freeze the return from an evidence schedule

Before finalising the return, reconcile each material income category and each tax-credit line. Allocate income under the applicable recognition and assessability rules, then reconcile the related TDS to that income period. FY2025–26 income sits under AY2026–27, while income assessable for Tax Year 2026–27 follows the separate track under the new Act. Do not allocate either item solely by the date on which tax was deposited or the entry appeared on the portal. The March example above shows why. The transition FAQ says both statements are available on the portal and warns that wrong AY/TY selection or old/new section mapping can cause mismatches.

Retain the final AIS, TIS, Form 26AS, certificates, challans, feedback acknowledgements, correspondence and reconciliation used. The working should show why the filed figure is complete and accurate even when a portal source still disagrees.