AIS Health Checker: Pre-ITR Verification Workflow for AY 2026-27

The Annual Information Statement is now the Income Tax Department's primary lens into your financial life. Every bank transaction above the threshold, every dividend, every mutual fund redemption, every property registration — all of it is sitting in your AIS before your Chartered Accountant opens your file.

The problem is not that AIS exists. The problem is that most taxpayers file their ITR without checking whether the income figures in their AIS are correct, complete, and not inflated by duplicate entries, wrong PAN tagging, or third-party reporting errors. The Income Tax Department issues scrutiny notices and adjusts refunds based on AIS data. If your filed return does not reconcile with AIS, the mismatch triggers an automated query.

This workflow walks through every section of AIS, tells you what to look for, and gives you a 40-point health checklist to clear before filing.

What AIS Contains and Why It Matters

AIS is available on the Income Tax e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in under the tab Annual Information Statement. It is pre-populated from data submitted by reporting entities — banks, mutual fund registrars, depositories, registrars of property, employers, and others — under the Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT) and TDS/TCS frameworks.

AIS is organised into six parts:

Alongside AIS, the portal also shows the Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) — a deduplicated, category-wise summary used to pre-fill your ITR. If you dispute an AIS entry, the TIS gets updated after your feedback is processed.

Step 1: Download AIS in Both Formats

• Log in to incometax.gov.in with your PAN and password.
• Navigate to Services > Annual Information Statement (AIS).
• Download AIS in PDF format for reference.
• Download AIS in JSON format if you use tax filing software (Winman, Genius, ClearTax) — most tools import AIS JSON directly.
• Also download the TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary) from the same screen.
• Note the last updated date on AIS. If recent high-value transactions are not reflecting, check again a week before filing — AIS updates as reporting entities submit their SFT.

Step 2: Verify Part A — General Information

Errors in general information affect Aadhaar linking status and refund processing.

• Confirm the PAN shown is yours and is not deactivated.
• Confirm the Aadhaar number linked is correct.
• Check the residential address and email/mobile — outdated contact details mean notices go to the wrong address.
• Verify the filing status for AY 2025-26 (prior year) is showing the correct return type (original, revised, belated).

If any detail is wrong, update your profile on the e-filing portal under My Profile before proceeding.

Step 3: Verify Part B — TDS / TCS Entries

This is typically the largest section and the one with the most errors.

Cross-check Against Form 26AS

• Download Form 26AS from TRACES (traces.gov.in) for AY 2026-27.
• For each TDS entry in AIS, confirm it also appears in Form 26AS with the same amount and deductor TAN.
• Entries in AIS but not in 26AS: the deductor may not have filed their TDS return. Contact the deductor to file a correction statement — do not ignore this.
• Entries in 26AS but not in AIS: rare, but possible if the integration has a lag. Carry the 26AS credit in your ITR regardless.

Cross-check Against Your Records

• Salary TDS (Section 192 / 379 under new Act): Match against Form 16 Part A. The cumulative TDS shown in AIS must equal the TDS certificate amount.
• Bank interest TDS (Section 194A / 393): Match against your bank TDS certificates or bank statements. Banks often split interest across quarters — check each deductor entry, not just the total.
• Rent TDS (Section 194I / 394): If you receive rent, verify the tenant deducted and deposited TDS correctly. Mismatches here are common when tenants are non-filers.
• Professional fee TDS (Section 194J / 194): Match against invoices raised during the year.
• Dividend TDS (Section 194): Check against broker and company dividend statements.
• TCS on foreign remittances (Section 206C(1G) / 393 sub-clause): If you remitted money abroad under LRS, verify the bank collected TCS at the correct rate (20% for amounts above Rs 7 lakh in old regime; verify current rate).

Flag These Specific TDS Issues

• Same amount appearing twice under the same deductor TAN — duplicate TDS entry from the deductor's corrected return.
• TDS amount shown but matching PAN is wrong — another person's TDS mapped to your PAN. File feedback immediately.
• TDS credit shown as unmatched — deductor filed TDS return with a typo in your PAN. Deductor must file correction.

Step 4: Verify Part C — SFT (High-Value Transactions)

SFT entries are reported by specified entities under Rule 114E. These are the entries that most frequently trigger scrutiny when not reported in the ITR.

For every SFT entry in your AIS:

• Identify the reporting entity (bank, registrar, CDSL/NSDL, company) and the financial year of the transaction.
• Match the amount against your own records — bank statements, broker statements, property registration documents.
• Flag entries where the amount is inflated (e.g., gross receipt shown instead of net gain on a property).
• Flag entries where the year is wrong — a transaction from FY 2024-25 showing in AIS for FY 2025-26.
• Flag entries not related to you — another person's PAN mapped incorrectly by the reporting entity.

Step 5: Verify Part D — Tax Payments

• Download challan receipts for all advance tax and self-assessment tax paid during FY 2025-26.
• Confirm each challan (BSR code + challan serial number + date + amount) appears correctly in AIS.
• Check the assessment year on each challan is AY 2026-27, not a prior year.
• If a challan does not appear: check if it was deposited under the correct PAN and AY. Contact the bank for a correction if PAN was entered wrong at the time of payment.

Step 6: Verify Part E — Demands and Refunds

• Check if any outstanding demand from a prior year is shown. An unresolved demand will be adjusted against your current year's refund.
• If a demand is incorrect, file a rectification request (Section 154) or respond to the demand notice before filing the current year's ITR.
• Confirm prior year refunds shown in AIS match what was actually credited to your bank account.
• If a refund was due but not received, check the bank account details on the portal and raise a refund reissue request.

Step 7: Verify Part F — Other Information

Part F aggregates income items that do not have a dedicated TDS deduction but are still reportable.

• Savings account interest: All banks report interest credited during the year. Total it up and cross-check against your bank statements. Section 80TTA/80TTB deduction applies (Rs 10,000 for non-senior, Rs 50,000 for senior citizens under old regime).
• Dividend income: Every company and mutual fund reports dividends. Match against your broker's consolidated statement (CAS from CAMS/KFintech).
• Foreign remittances received (inward): If you received money from abroad (gift, foreign employment, sale of overseas asset), check if it appears and whether it is correctly categorised.
• Rent received: If you let out property, verify the rent figures match your rental agreements.
• Business/professional receipts: GST-registered businesses may see turnover data pulled from GSTIN. Cross-check against your GSTR-1.

Step 8: Filing Feedback on Discrepancies

AIS allows you to file feedback for each entry. Use it — it is the only mechanism to correct third-party reporting errors before they affect your ITR processing.

Feedback options available:

How to file feedback:

1. In the AIS portal, click the entry you want to dispute.
2. Select the appropriate feedback type from the dropdown.
3. Enter the correct amount or provide a brief explanation.
4. Submit. The feedback is recorded immediately; the TIS is updated within a few working days.
5. Download a fresh TIS after feedback is processed and use the updated figures when filling your ITR.

Important: Filing feedback does not delete the entry from AIS. The original entry remains visible alongside your feedback. The TIS adjusts the considered value. If the reporting entity confirms your feedback through a correction SFT, the AIS itself will be updated in a subsequent cycle.

40-Point AIS Health Checklist

General (Part A)

• PAN is active and Aadhaar-linked
• Contact details are current
• Prior year filing status reflects correctly

TDS/TCS (Part B)

• AIS TDS totals reconcile with Form 26AS
• Salary TDS matches Form 16 Part A exactly
• Bank interest TDS matches bank TDS certificates
• Rent received TDS matches rental income
• Professional fee TDS matches invoices issued
• Dividend TDS matches broker statement
• No duplicate TDS entries from the same deductor
• No TDS credited to wrong PAN — feedback filed
• Unmatched TDS entries chased with respective deductors
• TCS on foreign remittance at correct rate

SFT High-Value Transactions (Part C)

• All FD/time deposits reconcile with bank records
• Savings account cash deposits reconcile
• Mutual fund purchase amounts reconcile with CAS
• Property sale/purchase amounts reconcile with registration deed
• Equity/bond purchases reconcile with broker contract notes
• Credit card payment entries reconcile
• Business cash receipts reconcile with books
• No SFT entries for transactions in a different financial year
• No SFT entries belonging to another person's PAN
• Inflated SFT values (gross vs net) flagged with feedback

Tax Payments (Part D)

• All advance tax challans appear correctly
• Self-assessment tax challans appear correctly
• All challan AYs are AY 2026-27 (not prior year)
• BSR codes and challan numbers on AIS match physical receipts
• No challan under wrong PAN — bank correction initiated if needed

Demands and Refunds (Part E)

• No outstanding demand that will be auto-adjusted
• Prior year demands verified — contested or accepted
• Prior year refunds received match AIS entries
• Refund reissue request filed if refund not received

Other Income (Part F)

• Savings account interest total tallied across all banks
• Dividend income matches CAS and company statements
• Foreign inward remittances accounted for
• Rent received reconciles with agreements
• GSTR-1 turnover and AIS business receipts reconcile

Pre-Filing Sign-Off

• All discrepancies have feedback filed in AIS portal
• Fresh TIS downloaded after feedback processing
• ITR income figures prepared from TIS (not raw AIS)
• Differences between AIS and ITR documented with explanation

Common AIS Errors and Resolution Steps

Problem: Bank showing interest income higher than actual Cause: Bank reported accrued interest even if FD has not matured; or included TDS-deducted amounts without netting. Resolution: Match against bank's interest certificate. File feedback with correct amount. Report only the income actually accrued (for accrual basis) or received (for cash basis) per your method of accounting.

Problem: Mutual fund transactions show purchase value as income Cause: Registrar sometimes incorrectly codes a purchase SFT as a receipt. Resolution: File feedback — "Information is not fully correct." Report only actual redemption gains in Schedule CG of your ITR.

Problem: Property sale showing stamp duty value instead of actual sale price Cause: Registrar reports stamp duty value (for SFT-012), not the agreement sale price. Resolution: This is by design — registrars report stamp duty value. The discrepancy is expected. Report the actual consideration in Schedule CG, with Sections 50C and 56(2)(x) implications addressed correctly.

Problem: Employer TDS lower than Form 16 amount Cause: Employer filed a revised TDS return reducing TDS liability, but the revised return data has not yet reflected in AIS. Resolution: Use the Form 16 figure for ITR. Raise the discrepancy with your employer's payroll team to ensure their TDS return is correct.

Problem: Dividend from a company you do not hold shares in Cause: Wrong PAN mapping by the company's registrar during dividend processing. Resolution: File AIS feedback — "Information relates to other PAN." Also write to the company's registrar with your broker's holding statement showing nil holding to request a correction at source.

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Sources: Income Tax Act, 1961 (Section 285BA — obligation to furnish SFT); Rule 114E of the Income Tax Rules (SFT reporting entities and thresholds); CBDT Notification 16/2021 (AIS framework); the e-filing portal's AIS Handbook (available on incometax.gov.in); TRACES portal reconciliation guide. SFT thresholds and codes verified against the current CBDT notification as of FY 2025-26.