Form 16 vs AIS: Key Differences for ITR Filing (AY 2026-27)

Form 16 and Anniual Information Statement (AIS) are important and popular tax documents used by assessees for accurate tax filing. While Form 16 predominantly contains TDS and income information related to salary, AIS is more like a summary statement which reflects the income of the assessee, as reported by various specified entities.

What is Form 16?

Form 16 is a TDS certificate issued under section 206 of the Income Tax Act, 1961. It is provided by an employer to an employee every financial year and contains TDS deduction details, salary, eligible deductions and exemptions as submitted by the employee, and a detailed tax calculation. It contains two parts. Part A contains TDS details, and Part B contains tax calculation on salary income. 

What is AIS?

An Annual Information Statement (AIS) is a consolidated document issued by the department that contains details of income reported by various entities, such as banks, financial institutions, property sellers, employers, and stockbrokers. It contains quarter-wise details and a transaction-wise breakdown of items such as bank interest, property sales and purchases, salary, and freelance income, where TDS is deducted. It serves as a one-stop document where you can see all income earned, as reported by entities. 

Form 16 vs AIS

The following table presents the key differences between Form 16 and the Annual Information Statement.

10 Information that appears in AIS but not in Form 16 

One of the basic differences between AIS and Form 16 is that AIS covers a wider range of income than Form 16. The following are some pieces of information that are usually not captured in Form 16 automatically but are incorporated in AIS.

1. Interest from deposits
2. Business receipts (apart from salary income)
3. Interest from savings banks
4. Sale of securities and units of a mutual fund
5. Purchase of securities and units of mutual funds 
6. Interest on income-tax refund
7. Tax payments during the financial year (advance tax or self-assessment tax)
8. Demand raised
9. Refund issued
10. Outward foreign remittances

Using Form 16 and AIS to file your ITR

Taxpayers are strongly advised to cross-verify every line item of income or deduction directly from the source documents, while using documents like Form 16 and AIS as reference statements, so that all income details available with the department are covered, irrespective of their materiality. In simple words, 

The following are the key points to consider for the assessee when filing the ITR.

1. Keep all the source documents, Form 16, AIS, Form 26AS and other TDS/TCS certificates handy while filing ITR.

2. As far as basic pay, allowances, perquisites are concerned, Form-16 can be significantly relied upon, as those are the details directly reported by the source (the employer).

3. For details like exempt allowance, eligible deductions, etc, some of the details can also be missed in Form 16, or inaccurately reflected in Form 16. Therefore it is important to calculate the important exemptions and deductions, and cross verification of them with source documents in order to accurately file ITR. The following are the popular calculators that can be used to calculate exemptions and deductions.

i. Tax Saving Calculator

ii. Leave Encashment Calculator

iii. HRA Calculator

iv. Old v/s new regime calculator

4. Go through the AIS completely and note down all the income other than salary like interest, dividend, capital gains, etc.

5. Cross verify the numbers with the source documents. The following can be used as source documents for different kinds of income:

i. Interest income - Bank Statements and interest certificates.

ii. Dividend income - Dividend Warrant / DEMAT account statement

iii. Capital Gains - Broker statements

iv. Interest on Income Tax Refund - Income tax refund intimation order

6. Ensure all the particulars as per Form 16 and AIS are covered in your ITR. 

7. However, there could be income which is not reflected on the AIS, because of its nature. For example, income from intraday trading, freelance business income which is not subject to TDS deduction, gifts, etc. may not be always reflected on AIS.

8. In such cases, it is necessary to file ITR, after including all the income, even when they are not reflected in AIS.

Income Tax Act 2025 Updates

With the advent of the Income Tax Act 2025, all the forms issued under the provisions of the act has gone through renumbering, and changes that facilitates easy compliance and transparency. However, for the current tax filing season, the forms issued as per the 1961 act should be referred, as they still hold good for the income earned until 31st March, 2026. 

The following table presents the key information related to the income tax 2025-equivalents of Form 16 and AIS.

Final Word

In terms of importance, both Form 16 and AIS hold an equivalent position. Therefore, instead of discriminating one over the other in terms of importance, the aforesaid documents can be seen as complimentary to each other, playing a crucial role in ITR filing process for individuals.