Sneha's ready to file her first ITR. Her CA aunt told her: "Don't even open the ITR form before you've checked your 26AS and AIS."
Sneha had no idea what those were. Then she opened the income tax portal and saw 14 menus. Let's walk her through it.
- Go to incometax.gov.in → login → e-File → Income Tax Returns → View Form 26AS.
- The portal redirects you to TRACES. Click View Tax Credit (Form 26AS).
- Pick the Assessment Year, choose HTML or PDF, download.
- Now also check AIS — newer, broader, what the pre-fill uses.
What is Form 26AS really?
Think of it as a passbook the government keeps about you. Every entity that touched your money and was supposed to inform the tax department — your employer, your bank, the buyer of any property you sold — reports those transactions tagged with your PAN.
26AS aggregates all of it. If your TDS shows up here, you can claim it. If it doesn't, the tax department doesn't know you paid it. Simple as that.
If you claim ₹38,200 of TDS in your ITR but only ₹37,900 shows in 26AS, the system flags a mismatch. You either get a smaller refund or a notice. Reconcile first; file later.
The 5-click download
PAN as username, your password. (Same login as ITR filing.)
A consent screen appears. Click Confirm. You're redirected to TRACES (tdscpc.gov.in).
Top menu. New page asks for AY and format.
AY = the year just after the financial year you're filing for (e.g., FY 2025-26 → AY 2026-27). Format: HTML (view in browser) or PDF (download).
The PDF is password-protected. Password = PAN in lowercase + DOB as DDMMYYYY. Example: PAN ABCDE1234F, DOB 15-Aug-1990 → password abcde1234f15081990.
What you'll actually see
Form 26AS is divided into parts. The ones most people care about:
- Part A — TDS on salary, FD interest, professional fees. The big one.
- Part A2 — TDS on property sale (Section 194-IA).
- Part B — TCS (collected by sellers — jewellers, car dealers, etc.).
- Part C — Advance tax / self-assessment tax you paid directly.
- Part E — Specified Financial Transactions: large deposits, mutual fund purchases, property buys.
- Part F — TDS you deducted (on rent, contractor, property purchase).
26AS vs AIS — pick both
Since 2021, the IT department has been pushing a newer, broader version called AIS (Annual Information Statement). It's what the pre-fill in your ITR uses.
Form 26AS
The original TDS record
Still the authoritative TDS / TCS / advance-tax statement. Always pull it.
AIS
The broader, newer one
Path: e-File → AIS. Cross-check this — it's what the IT portal sees first.
What if 26AS shows wrong / missing TDS?
This happens. Your employer files TDS quarterly; if they made a typo in your PAN, the credit goes to the wrong person.
👉 Find the TAN of the deductor shown next to the entry.
👉 Email / call them asking them to revise their TDS return. This is on the deductor, not you.
👉 Wait 7–15 days after they file the correction; check 26AS again.
👉 Stuck? Raise a grievance at the IT portal's e-Nivaran module. Or get help.
Don't file ITR before reconciling 26AS and AIS. 30 minutes here saves you weeks of notice-handling later.
The 3 mismatches that trigger notices
The IT system's pattern matcher is unforgiving. The most common ones it catches:
👉 TDS claimed > TDS in 26AS. You'll get a smaller refund or a notice.
👉 Interest income in AIS but not declared in ITR. Banks file FD interest you may have forgotten.
👉 Large transactions in Part E (a property purchase, big mutual fund purchase) without matching ITR sources of income.
Quick answers
It contains personal financial information. The IT department requires PAN authentication. Even your CA needs your login credentials or an authorisation letter — there's no public access.
Both. 26AS is the authoritative TDS/TCS record. AIS is broader and is what powers the ITR pre-fill, so cross-checking AIS is increasingly more important. For safe filing, reconcile both.
Format strictly: 5 letters of PAN (lowercase) + 4 digits of PAN + 1 letter of PAN (lowercase) + DOB as DDMMYYYY. Example: PAN ABCDE1234F, DOB 15-Aug-1990 → abcde1234f15081990. No spaces, all lowercase.
Whenever deductors file their quarterly TDS returns — typically by 31 July, 31 October, 31 January, and 31 May. Allow 7–15 days after these dates for updates to reflect.
Yes — through net banking of major banks (SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, etc.). Look for a "View 26AS" link inside net banking. It redirects to TRACES with single sign-on.
When you might want help
The download itself is 2 minutes. Where it gets messy: when a deductor refuses to revise (common with small employers), when AIS contains transactions you don't recognise, or when you have multiple PANs / merged TDS records from a name change. We chase deductors, file corrections, and clean up before notices land.
26AS doesn't match your reality?
We chase deductors, file corrections, and clear up mismatches before they become notices.