Before you file, two government documents deserve five minutes of your attention: Form 26AS and the AIS. Think of them as the tax department's diary about you. Matching your return to them is the closest thing to notice insurance that exists.
Form 26AS: your tax credit statement
26AS lists every rupee of tax linked to your PAN: TDS deducted by your employer and banks, advance tax you paid, and self assessment tax. When you claim TDS credit in your return, it must match 26AS, otherwise your refund gets stuck.
AIS: the bigger picture
The Annual Information Statement goes much further. It shows your salary, savings and FD interest, dividends, share and mutual fund trades, and large purchases, all reported by banks, companies and brokers. If it is in your AIS and not in your return, the mismatch is visible to the department on day one.
How to use them
- ✓Download both from the income tax portal before filing
- ✓Tick off every income line in AIS against your return
- ✓Check the TDS you claim equals what 26AS shows
- ✓If AIS has an error, you can submit feedback on the portal disputing it
On Saathi.Tax this reconciliation is built into the flow: we cross check every line before submission so mismatches get caught while they are still easy to fix, not months later in a notice.
