What is Form 26AS? (Updated 28-July-2020)

1. PAN stands for Permanent Account Number;
2. TDS stands for Tax Deducted at Source;
3. TCS stands for Tax Collection at Source;
4. TAN stands for Tax deduction Account Number;
5. TRACES stands for TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System;
6. AIR stands for Annual Information Report;
7. SFT stands for Statement of Financial Transactions;
8. Form 26AS is a compilation of annual data that had been received from multiple sources / agencies on the basis of PAN / Aadhaar. It is an Annual Tax Statement generated U/s. 203AA of Income Tax Act, 1961;
9. The Assessee (Individual or Entity) can access their respective Form 26AS through LOGIN over the website of Income Tax Department, i.e., – https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
10. Incase you have not registered, there is a process of one-time registration. In few other cases, where the password is lost, one can retrieve it by way of “Forget Password” option;
11. Form 26AS is also available in EXCEL format, but the same can be accessed only through TRACES, i.e, – https://www.tdscpc.gov.in/app/login.xhtml
12. Password to open the file is date of birth or date of incorporation of the entity, which is in the form of DDMMYYYY. This date should be the same as that of the date as mentioned in PAN of the respective entity / individual;
13. Login through the portal of IT Department by using PAN as your USER ID. Immediately after the login, you must proceed to tab “My Account” -> View Form26AS (Tax Credit) -> a new window would open up;
14. Select tab “View / Verify Tax Credit” and then you can find your Form 26AS. Select appropriate Assessment Year. Assessment Year is the ensuing year of the Financial Year. For example, today is 06th June 2020, which indicates that we are in the Financial Year 2020-2021. However, for the purpose of assessment in IT department, it would be referred as Asst. Year 2021-2022;
15. Then “View as” -> “HTML” . Once Form 26AS is generated, then you may proceed to “Download” which is there at the top of Form 26AS. Form 26AS is a live document, and it keeps changing after updation of data against your PAN. So remember to download fresh Form 26AS before filing your Income Tax Returns or placing request from the Deductors to issue Form 16 / Form 16A (as the case may be);
16. After the introduction of detailed Form 26AS, there is no necessity to seek Form 16 / Form 16A from the Deductors, which are generally referred to as TDS Certificates. Form 16 used to be issued for Salaried Employees and Form 16A for all others;
17. Form 26AS contains the details of Total TDS / TCS / Advance Tax Paid / Self Assessment Tax Paid / Refund Issued and all other AIR transactions availed & consolidated automatically from various sources / agencies;
18. Form 26AS can also be viewed by registering with TRACES or through net banking account of tax payers held with banks that have registered with TRACES to provide this facility;
19. In Part A – Details of TDS deducted on our income is displayed in this section. The Deductors deduct TDS on your income and pay the same to the credit of the Govt. Treasury. However, mere deposit by Deductors are not enough. They need to file e-TDS returns (on quarterly basis) and should show the total amount of deductions made against your PAN and deposit made thereto. So, if Deductors have fed wrong PAN then unless they file Correction Statement, you would never get the credit of TDS deducted but not deposited against your PAN;
20. Do check the details of income shown against your PAN by each such Deductors and taxes paid thereto. It is better to be updated about Form 26AS. The Assessee should check their Form 26AS atleast once in a quarter and reconcile the same with actual facts;
21. The details of deductions made by each party for the said Asst. Year can be checked by clicking on “+” sign just before the name of the Deductor;
22. To go back to the summarized form, click “-“ at the same place which had initially appeared as “+”;
23. Part A1– Details of Tax Deducted at Source for 15G / 15H (Interest Incomes);
24. Part A2– Details of Tax Deducted at Source on Sale of Immovable Property u/s 194IA / TDS on Rent of Property u/s 194IB / TDS on payment to resident contractors and professionals u/s 194M (For Seller / Landlord of Property / Payee of resident contractors and professionals);
25. Part B – Details of Tax Collected at Source;
26. Part C – Details of Tax Paid (Other than TDS or TCS but includes Self Assessment Tax & Advance Tax);
27. Part D – Details of Paid Refund (issued by the Income Tax Department;
28. Part E – Details of SFT Transactions under Section 285BA of IT Act, 1961;
29. Part F – Details of Tax Deducted at Source on Sale of Immovable Property u/s 194IA / TDS on Rent of Property u/s 194IB / TDS on payment to resident contractors and professionals u/s 194M (For Buyer / Tenant of Property / Payer of resident contractors and professionals). Please note the difference between Part A2 & Part F, which has been highlighted in Bold Letters;
30. Part G – TDS Defaults (Processing of Statements) which are applicable for Deductors who have filed eTDS returns;
31. Kindly note that in PART A/B (Details of Tax deducted / collected at source), the ‘Status of Booking (P/F/U)’ are indicated in subsequent clauses;
32. Provisional (P) – Only for TDS/TCS affected by Government deductors. Provisional tax credit is effected on the basis of TDS/TCS returns filed only. On verification of the payment details by the Pay & Accounts officer (PAO), status will change to Final (F);
33. Unmatched (U) –    Deductors have not deposited the taxes or have furnished incorrect particulars of tax payment. Final credit will be reflected only when the payment details in the bank match with the details of deposit in the TDS/TCS return;
34. Final (F) – In case of non-Government deductors, payment details of TDS/TCS deposited in bank by the deductor have matched with the payment details mentioned in the TDS/TCS return filed by the deductor;
35. In case of Government deductors, details of TDS / TCS booked in Government account have been verified by the Pay and Accounts Officer (PAO);
36. Form 26AS will help you to verify the credits for taxes deducted from the income received and the advance tax / self assessment tax deposited by you with the Govt. against your PAN;
37. On 28th May 2020, the Income Tax Department has notified Form 26AS, which interalia, would also include details of information pertaining to property(ies) & share transactions. This has already come into effect from 01st June 2020. The information would also include pending / completed proceedings undertaken by a Tax Payer.

 

Possible reasons for mismatch/missing entry in Part A/B (Details of TDS or TCS) are as follows:-

·         Deductor / collector has not filed quarterly TDS/TCS return.
·         Deductor /collector has not quoted or has wrongly quoted your PAN in the TDS/TCS return.
·         You have not provided PAN or have provided wrong PAN to the deductor/collector.
·         The TDS/TCS return filed by the deductor/collector is rejected in the system.

In case of entries with Status of Booking “U” (Unmatched)

 ·        Deductor has wrongly quoted the challan details in the return against which your TDS/TCS was deposited.

Possible reasons for mismatch / missing entry in ‘Part C ‘Details of tax paid (other than TDS or TCS) are as follow:-

You may have mentioned wrong A.Y. in the challan which will result in updation of Form 26AS for wrong A.Y.

It is indeed a step forward in bringing transparency and better accountability. Readers are requested to go through the post in detail several times to get acquainted fully with Form 26AS.