AIS and TIS Explained: How to Check Your Income Tax Data

You file your annual Income Tax Return based strictly on your employer’s Form 16. You assume that because tax was deducted on your salary, your compliance obligations are complete. Three months later, an automated communication from the Income Tax Department arrives in your inbox: an e-Verification inquiry under Section 133C noting that you omitted ₹48,000 in savings bank interest, ₹1,20,000 in mutual fund redemption proceeds, and ₹14,500 in stock dividends.

How did the tax authorities discover transactions you never declared?

The answer lies in Project Insight and the twin reporting frameworks introduced under Section 285BB of the Income-tax Act: the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and the Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS).

Gone are the days when the tax department relied solely on manual inspections or fragmented Form 26AS TDS slips. Today, banks, mutual fund registrar agencies (CAMS, KFintech), stock depositories (CDSL, NSDL), sub-registrars, and credit card companies automatically feed your financial footprint directly into the government’s centralized data lake.

This guide provides a comprehensive manual on how to read, verify, and correct your AIS and TIS. You will understand how these statements differ from Form 26AS, what transactions trigger reporting, how to dispute erroneous entries, and how to reconcile your data before submitting your ITR.

The Shift from Form 26AS to AIS and TIS

To understand AIS and TIS, you must first understand the historical limitation of Form 26AS:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                       FORM 26AS                             │
│ • Primary focus: Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) & TCS         │
│ • High-value transactions only if above extreme thresholds  │
│ • Did not capture savings interest below TDS cutoff         │
│ • Did not display detailed stock/mutual fund trade trails   │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
                               │ Upgraded & Expanded
                               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│            ANNUAL INFORMATION STATEMENT (AIS)               │
│ • 50+ categories of financial information                   │
│ • Captures all bank interest (savings + FD), regardless TDS │
│ • Tracks stock purchases, mutual fund sales, dividends      │
│ • Tracks foreign outward remittances (LRS), rent, property  │
│ • Provides interactive taxpayer feedback mechanism          │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
                               │ Summarized & Aggregated
                               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│          TAXPAYER INFORMATION SUMMARY (TIS)                 │
│ • Simplified category-wise summary of AIS                   │
│ • Filters duplicates and aggregates gross vs net values     │
│ • Displays "Reported Value" vs "Processed Value"            │
│ • Directly feeds pre-filled figures into ITR-1, 2, 3 & 4    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Form 26AS continues to exist, but its statutory scope is now primarily limited to tax credits (TDS deposited by employers, banks, and clients, plus advance tax challans). The AIS is the master dossier of your entire financial life, while the TIS is the processed summary used to pre-fill your tax return.

Deconstructing the AIS: Part A and Part B

When you log in to the Income Tax Compliance Portal and open your AIS, you will find it bifurcated into two parts:

Part A: General Information

Part A contains your basic demographic credentials as registered across government databases:

• Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Masked Aadhaar Number
• Full Legal Name and Date of Birth / Incorporation
• Mobile Number and Primary Email Address
• Permanent and Current Residential Addresses

Always verify that your mobile number and email in Part A are actively monitored, as all compliance notifications and e-verification alerts are routed to these coordinates.

Part B: The Five Core Information Categories

Part B contains the operational transaction data, divided into five distinct tabs:

1. TDS / TCS Information

Displays every instance where an entity deducted or collected tax on your behalf:

• Salary TDS under Section 192 (matched against your Form 16)
• Fixed deposit and recurring deposit interest TDS under Section 194A
• Dividend TDS under Section 194
• Professional or contractual fee TDS under Section 194J / 194C
• Tax Collected at Source (TCS) on foreign remittances, luxury car purchases, or overseas tour packages under Section 206C

2. SFT Information (Specified Financial Transactions)

Under Section 285BA, banks, registrars, and financial institutions are legally obligated to file an annual SFT report detailing customer transactions that cross regulatory thresholds:

3. Payment of Taxes

Lists all self-motivated tax deposits you made during the financial year:

• Advance Tax: Paid quarterly using Challan ITNS 280 (Code 100).
• Self-Assessment Tax: Paid prior to ITR filing using Challan ITNS 280 (Code 300).
• Contains the exact BSR code, deposit date, challan serial number, and amount.

4. Demand and Refund

Details any outstanding tax demands from past assessment years, rectifications in progress, and the exact refund amounts issued along with statutory interest credited under Section 244A. (Note: Interest received on income tax refunds is 100% taxable under ‘Income from Other Sources’).

5. Other Information

Contains third-party disclosures that do not fit into the other four categories:

• Foreign outward remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS)
• High-value purchase of jewelry or bullion
• Rent received from tenants who submitted your PAN for HRA claims
• Interest on Provident Fund contributions exceeding ₹2.5 Lakhs annually

Deconstructing the TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary)

While AIS displays hundreds of individual transaction entries, the TIS acts as the executive summary.

For each category of income (Salary, Dividend, Interest from Savings, Interest from Deposits, Sale of Securities, Mutual Fund Redemptions), TIS displays two separate numeric columns:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│             HOW TIS PROCESSES YOUR DATA                     │
├──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┤
│       REPORTED VALUE         │       PROCESSED VALUE        │
│ The raw sum received from    │ The final value derived      │
│ banks, brokers, and entities │ after eliminating duplicates │
│ before any verification.     │ and applying your feedback.  │
└──────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────┘

Why the “Processed Value” Dictates Your ITR

When you log in to the e-filing portal to submit your tax return, the software automatically pulls the Processed Value from your TIS directly into the relevant schedules of your ITR form.

If your TIS shows a Processed Value of ₹35,000 for “Interest from Savings Bank,” your ITR will automatically pre-fill ₹35,000 under Income from Other Sources. If you manually delete or lower this number without submitting formal feedback in the AIS, the CPC’s automated processing system will flag the variance and issue a defective return notice or Section 143(1) demand.

How to Submit Online Feedback on Erroneous AIS Entries

Because AIS collects data algorithmically from thousands of disparate third-party sources, errors, duplications, and misattributions occur frequently. The Income Tax Department provides a built-in mechanism to dispute any entry.

The 7 Standard Feedback Options

When you click on any specific transaction in your AIS, you can submit feedback by choosing one of these standard classifications:

1. Information is correct: Confirms the transaction is accurate.
2. Information is not fully correct: Used when the transaction occurred, but the reported figure is incorrect (e.g., broker reported gross turnover instead of net consideration).
3. Information relates to other PAN / year: Used when a family member’s transaction was misattributed to your PAN or when a transaction belongs to a different assessment year.
4. Information is duplicate / included in other information: Used when a bank reports both quarterly interest and annual interest, artificially doubling your reported income.
5. Information is denied: Used when you completely disown the transaction (e.g., fraudulent account opening or identity theft).
6. Customized feedback: Allows you to enter specific modified numbers and textual explanations.

       Step-by-Step Feedback Submission Flow
                          │
  1. Open AIS Portal (via e-Filing → Services → AIS)
                          │
  2. Locate Disputed Transaction under Part B
                          │
  3. Click "Feedback" Icon in the Action Column
                          │
  4. Select Reason (Duplicate / Incorrect / Denied)
                          │
  5. Enter Correct Value & Submit Acknowledgement
                          │
  6. TIS "Processed Value" Automatically Adjusts

Once submitted, the system instantly updates your TIS Processed Value. The department also alerts the reporting entity (e.g., your bank or broker) to verify the data. Even if the reporting entity takes weeks to respond, your modified feedback protects you during ITR processing.

4 Common AIS Discrepancies and How to Handle Them

1. Share Trading Turnover Inflation

• The Problem: Many active stock market traders find their AIS displaying astronomical figures—sometimes tens of crores—under “Sale of Securities.” Stock exchanges often report gross contract turnover for intraday or futures & options (F&O) transactions rather than net capital gains.
• The Solution: AIS is reporting total gross transaction volume, not your taxable capital gain. In your ITR-2 or ITR-3, report your actual capital gains or business turnover as calculated in your broker’s verified Tax P&L Statement. Do not panic; the tax department’s validation engines cross-reference turnover against standard capital gains schedules.

2. Duplicate Bank Interest Reporting

• The Problem: A bank might file an SFT return reporting ₹60,000 annual interest, while simultaneously filing quarterly TDS returns showing ₹15,000 four times. The AIS software may erroneously sum both streams, displaying ₹1,20,000.
• The Solution: Select the duplicate entry, click Feedback, select Information is duplicate / included in other information, and link the duplicate entry to the parent transaction. Your TIS Processed Value will immediately reset to ₹60,000.

3. Mutual Fund Switches Counted as Redemptions

• The Problem: When you switch funds from a regular growth plan to a direct plan, or from an equity fund to a debt fund within the same AMC, no money hits your bank account. Yet the AIS records this as a full redemption under “Sale of Mutual Funds.”
• The Solution: Under tax law, a switch is legally considered a redemption followed by a fresh purchase. You must calculate and pay capital gains tax on the switch, even though cash was not withdrawn to your bank. Reconcile this using your AMC’s Capital Gains Statement.

4. Rent Disclosed by Your Tenant

• The Problem: If you rent out a residential property and your tenant claims HRA from their employer by submitting your PAN, that rental income now appears under “Other Information - Rent Received” in your AIS.
• The Solution: If you fail to declare this rent under Income from House Property in your ITR, the CPC system will detect an automated mismatch. Always disclose genuine rental income, taking advantage of the standard 30% statutory deduction available under Section 24(a).

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Access and Download Your AIS/TIS

Follow these exact steps to download your official statements:

1. Log In: Navigate to the official Income Tax e-Filing Portal and log in using your PAN and password.
2. Access AIS Portal: On the top navigation menu, hover over Services and click on Annual Information Statement (AIS).
3. Redirection: A pop-up will notify you that you are being redirected to the Compliance Portal. Click Proceed.
4. Select Tile: On the Compliance Portal home screen, click on the AIS tile.
5. Download Options: You can view both AIS and TIS on-screen. To download:
   • Click the Download button at the top right.
   • Download the TIS (PDF) for a clean tax filing summary.
   • Download the AIS (PDF) for detailed transaction-level backup.
   • (Optional) Download the AIS (JSON) if you or your CA use automated tax preparation software.
6. Open the PDF: The downloaded PDF files are password-protected. The default password is your PAN in capital letters followed by your Date of Birth in DDMMYYYY format (e.g., ABCDE1234F01011990).

Frequently Asked Questions