What is Form 26AS: Meaning, Structure, & Benefits for FY 2025-26

Form 26AS is an annual tax statement issued by the Income Tax Department, that acts as a single consolidated record for the entire financial year. It captures every Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), Tax Collected at Source (TCS), advance tax and self-assessment tax payments, high-value transactions, refunds issued, and more, all linked to your PAN.

The scope of Form 26AS has expanded significantly over the years, which now includes details of foreign remittances, mutual fund purchases, dividend income, and even your turnover as reported in GST records. This makes it one of the most comprehensive financial documents available to an Indian taxpayer.

Ignoring Form 26AS while filing ITR can be costly. Even a single transaction reflected in the form that goes unreported in your return can lead to an Income Tax notice. Having Form 26AS handy while filing ensures your return is accurate, complete, and far less likely to attract scrutiny.

Information Available on Form 26AS

Form 26AS is a statement that shows the below information:

• Details of tax deducted at source
• Details of tax collected source
• Advance tax paid by the taxpayer
• Self-assessment tax payments
• Regular assessment tax deposited by the taxpayers (PAN holders)
• Details of income tax refund received by you during the financial year 
• Details of the high-value transactions regarding shares, mutual funds, etc.
• Details of tax deducted on sale of immovable property
• Details of TDS defaults (after processing TDS return) made during the year
• Turnover details reported in GSTR-3B
• Details of specified financial transactions
• Pending and completed income-tax proceedings

Structure and Parts of Form 26AS 

PART-I Details of Tax Deducted at Source

• TDS on salary, business, profession, interest income etc., shall be reported here

PART-II Details of Tax Deducted at Source for 15G/15H

• TDS on which no TDS is made because of Form 15G/15H due to income being less than the basic exemption limit. Mainly applicable for senior citizen taxpayers

PART-III Details of Transactions under Proviso to section 194B/First Proviso to sub-section (1) of section 194R/ Proviso to sub-section(1) of section 194S

• TDS made on payment made in kind (car in a lottery, foreign trips for meeting sales targets etc.)

PART-IV Details of Tax Deducted at Source u/s 194IA/ 194IB / 194M/ 194S (For Seller/Landlord of Property/Contractors or Professionals/ Seller of Virtual Digital Asset)

• TDS made on sale of house property/rent payment in excess of Rs. 50,000 per month, payment to a contractor/professional services in excess of Rs.50 lakhs/sale of virtual digital asset (cryptocurrency)

PART-V Details of Transactions under Proviso to sub-section(1) of section 194S as per Form-26QE (For Seller of Virtual Digital Asset)

PART-VI Details of Tax Collected at Source

• TCS made under various sections of 206C

PART-VII Details of Paid Refund (For which source is CPC TDS. For other details refer AIS at E-filing portal)

PART-VIII Details of Tax Deducted at Source u/s 194IA/ 194IB /194M/194S (For Buyer/Tenant of Property /Person making payment to contractors or Professionals / Buyer of Virtual Digital Asset)

• These details consist of the TDS made by you in relation to the purchase of house property/rent payment in excess of Rs. 50,000 per month, payment to a contractor/professional services in excess of Rs.50 lakhs/purchase of virtual digital asset (cryptocurrency). This is just for information purposes. 

PART-IX Details of Transactions/Demand Payments under Proviso to sub-section(1) of section 194S as per Form 26QE (For Buyer of Virtual Digital Asset)

PART-X TDS/TCS Defaults* (Processing of Statements)

• TDS defaults value (after processing of TDS returns) but do not include demands raised by the assessing officer.

How to Download Form 26AS?

Taxpayers can download Form 26AS through their traces portal for the relevant financial year. Taxpayers can also download Form 26AS through authorised banks using net banking account without having to login to the income tax portal. 

Benefits of Form 26AS

• Form 26AS provides important information about tax deducted/collected and deposited with the government tax authorities by the authorized deductors /collectors.
• A taxpayer can view all financial transactions involving TDS/TCS for the relevant financial year in Form 26AS.
• Form 26AS helps in the computation of income and to claim the tax credits when filing an Income Tax Return (ITR) on income. 
• Form 26AS helps in the computation of income and to claim the tax credits at the time of filing Income Tax Return (ITR) on income. 
• A taxpayer can confirm the verification of refunds during the applicable financial or assessment year using Form 26AS.

Introduction of Annual Information Statement (AIS)

• The income tax department has introduced an Annual Information Statement (AIS) to incorporate new details like:
  • Foreign remittances, 
  • Off-market transactions, 
  • Interest on income tax refunds, 
  • Mutual fund purchases, and
  • Dividend details. 
• Moreover, information of certain transactions is available with the tax department through ITR filed by others. For example, the property seller reports buyers' details in their ITR.

26AS v/s AIS 

The following table presents the difference between Form 26AS and AIS.

Discrepancies Between Form 26AS and AIS

• Generally, there should be no discrepancies between Form 26AS and AIS. 
• However, if any inconsistencies do arise, the income tax department's press release on the introduction of AIS will take precedence. 
• As per the aforesaid press release, in case of conflict arising between AIS and 26AS ,the information in Form 26AS will prevail. 
• Form 26AS should only prevail when the taxpayer lacks sufficient information or when it's necessary to rely on the data available in the portal.

TDS Certificate (Form 16/16A) and Form 26AS

• A TDS certificate or Form 16/16A and Form 26AS have different purposes though they may seem to contain the same information. 
• The tax deductor issues Form 16/16A, which serves as an evidence for TDS being deposited to the government under your PAN. 
• Whereas, Form 26AS contains all relevant information related to TDS/ TCS sufficient to file ITR.
• If there are any mistatches between Form 26AS and TDS certificates it could be because of technical defect in the income tax portal and other errors. 
• If Form 26AS is not showing TDS, it could be either because of an error or TDS itself has not been deducted in the first place. 
• You can check with your deductor to confirm whether TDS has been deducted and appropriately filed with the income tax department.

Further, in the case of salaried persons, Form 26AS is not sufficient to file ITR since it does not show the break-up of the income and deductions claimed under Section 80C to Section 80U which are available in TDS certificate. Thus, you need a TDS certificate along with Form 26AS.

Things to verify in TDS certificate with Form 26AS

Form 26AS must be verified with the details of TDS certificate, i.e. Form 16 (for salaried individuals) and Form 16A (for non-salaried individuals), to ensure that the TDS deducted from the payee’s income was deposited with the income tax department.

Other things that taxpayers must verify in the TDS certificate and Form 26AS are as follows:

• Check the name, PAN number, deductor’s TAN, refund amount and TDS amount to ensure that they are correctly reflected. A mismatch in details may create problems while filing ITR.
• Check if the TDS as per Form 16/16A is reflecting in Form 26AS correctly. If not, the deductor has not deposited the tax deducted on your behalf. In such a case, you need to take action and contact the deductor to rectify it.

In the case of any discrepancy between the TDS certificate and Form 26AS, inform your deductor and get it corrected immediately. Ensure that the deductor has filed TDS using your PAN number and other details. In many cases, if the TDS is filed under an incorrect PAN, it can result in problems for you and the deductor.