Talk to any expert on tax return filing and he would suggest you to “verify your Form 26AS”.
Form 26AS is consolidated statement of all your TDS, Self Assessment tax, advance tax, tax refunds, and high value transactions for relevant assessment years.
The post gives an overview and structure of Form 26AS, why it’s so important, what to verify and how to use it for Income Tax Return filing.
Form 26AS (also called the annual statement) gives you the following details for the associated PAN card:
There are two ways to view your 26AS
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Here are some posts which can help you with e-filing of ITR 2019:
1. 9 Most Important Changes in ITR Forms for AY 2019-20
2. Calculate your Tax liability for FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20)
3. Download 44 page slideshow showing all tax exemptions
4. Which ITR form to fill for Tax Returns for AY 2019-20?
5. How to Claim Tax Exemptions while filing ITR?
6. Use Challan 280 to Pay Self Assessment Tax Online
7. Form 26AS – Verify Before Filing Tax Return
8. 5 Ways to e-Verify your Income Tax Returns
9. What if You DO NOT file your Returns by due Date?
10. Can I file my Last Year Tax Return?
11. Why and How to Revise Your Tax Return?
12. What does Intimation U/S 143(1) of Income Tax Act mean?
13. What happens after you file your ITR?
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Once the Form is opened, you have option to select the Assessment year and the format “View as”. Select the relevant Assessment year and the format and click view.
Select ‘HTML” to view it online and “PDF” to download it.
Password for opening downloaded Form 26AS is date of birth of PAN holder in ddmmyyyy format as mentioned in PAN Card. So if your date of birth is January 1, 1980 then your password would be 01011980.
Download: Ultimate Tax Saving ebook with tax calculator FY 2019-20
Also remember the difference between Financial and Assessment year (for Financial Year 2016-17 the assessment year is 2017-18 and so on).
The 26AS is divided into 7 broad sections (A to G). Following are the details for each section.
PART A – Details of Tax Deducted at Source.
This section is most common and has details of Tax deducted by your employer or TDS deducted by banks on interest on Fixed Deposits, etc. TDS deducted by each source is shown as a separate table.
PART A1 – Details of Tax Deducted at Source for 15G / 15H
This section shows details of the income where tax was not deducted as you had submitted form 15G or 15H. The TDS will always show “0” because you have submitted Form 15G/H for not deducting TDS. It helps in tracking the interest you received.
Also Read: 25 Tax Free Incomes & Investments in India
PART A2 – Details of Tax Deducted at Source on Sale of Immovable Property u/s 194IA (For Seller of Property)
PART B – Details of Tax Collected at Source
This is tax that is collected by seller from buyer on sale of certain goods like liquor, timber, minerals, etc. This would be mainly populated for people involved in such trades.
PART C – Details of Tax Paid (other than TDS or TCS)
This part shows any “Advance Tax or Self Assessment Tax” paid during the financial year. The banks generally upload this information after clearing of the cheque.
Part D – Details of Paid Refund
This part shows any refund paid to you by Income tax department in that financial year
Part E: Details of AIR Transaction
It shows the details of any high value transactions such as purchase of property etc. These high value transactions are reported to income tax department by banks/ Registrar/ mutual Funds/ companies etc through Annual Information Return (AIR)
PART F – Details of Tax Deducted at Source on Sale of Immovable Property u/s 194IA (For Buyer of Property)
PART G – TDS Defaults (Processing of Statements)
As you can see it’s a long form but is visually easy to understand. The question is what should be verified in this form? The answer is EVERYTHING. Yes you should verify all the numbers and relevant details present there.
As stated above in case someone has deducted TDS but has not submitted or updated it wrongly to the income tax authorities, you might see wrong or missing entries. In that case you will need to contact that person/company.
Also Read: Calculate Tax on Arrears in 7 Easy Steps
Form 26AS can be compared to your resume while applying for any job. The interviewer knows everything mentioned in your resume – similarly, income tax authorities know about all the information present in 26AS. And as you would not mess up in interview by not preparing what’s on your resume, similarly you can mess your income tax returns by not verifying the entries in 26AS.
And the worst part if you have discrepancies in the 26AS and your income tax return, you might get notice from income tax for wrong returns or for scrutiny of documents.
Have you checked your Form 26AS while filing your ITR?
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View Comments
Hello sir,
In FY 2016-17, i received arrear on DA for five months of same FY. But in form 26AS ,the total amount shown under total amount paid/credited is without arrear.why is it so? During income tax assessment i have included amount of arrear for income tax deduction.should it be calculated separately?
What should i do?
You can calculate tax on arrears in easy steps!
Sir,i am confused.
In 26As form,amount from arrear is missing.but in self assessment of income tax,i included that amount and calculated taxable amount. And that amount has deducted in form 26as.
Now my question is that in efiling of itr,should i include arrear in my income or not?(arrear is not from previous FY, it is from same Fy.that is 2016-17)
Please, give me advice .
Yes you have to include arrears in your income tax calculation.
i am abroad in usa and I can't access my form 26-AS.is there any other way to access?
Try this link - https://nriservices.tdscpc.gov.in/nriapp/login.xhtml
Hi Sir,
I am Kunal Bisen, I received mail from Income tax sept. of Intimation u/s 143(1), showing the Tax Credit mismatch of Rs. 5068 and also my Form 26AS showing Nil.
But TDS is deducted by my deductor.
What could be the reason behind it.
Please help sir.
Thank you.
You will need to contact your deductor as to why TDS has not been deposited to income tax department. You should always verify your Form 26AS before filing your return.
Sir thank you replying,
but my deductor gave me the Tax deposit receipt which he had received from bank.
TDS deductor has to file TDS returns. Ask him if he has done that. And if yes you need to check if the details like PAN number/name etc was entered correctly.
Very valuable guidance.
Hello
In form 26 for interest on FD/Savings account, section 194A, Total amount shown under “total amountpaid/credited” comprises of interest from both FD+savings interest ? or is it from FD only ?
Thanks
There is no TDS on interest paid on savings account. So the TDS shown in Form 26As is for fixed deposit and recurring deposit only.