AIS and Form 26AS do not match: common causes and how to fix them

Three statements, three purposes

Form 26AS, renumbered Form 168 under the new rules, is the tax credit statement. It shows TDS and TCS deposited against your PAN, along with advance tax and self-assessment tax. It is the basis on which tax credits are allowed.

The Annual Information Statement (AIS) is much broader. It shows information reported by banks, companies, registrars, mutual funds, brokers, property registrars and others: interest, dividends, securities and mutual fund transactions, rent, purchase of property, foreign remittances and more, whether or not tax was deducted.

The Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) condenses AIS into category totals, after the department's own processing. It is the figure most likely to be pre-filled in your return.

The most common causes of mismatch

• Gross values instead of gains. AIS reports the sale value of shares and mutual fund units, not the gain. A ₹10 lakh redemption may produce a gain of only ₹50,000.
• Accrual versus receipt. Banks may report interest accrued on a fixed deposit each year, while your passbook shows interest only on maturity.
• Duplicate reporting. The same transaction may be reported by a bank and by a registrar, or by two branches.
• Joint holdings. Interest on a joint account or deposit may be reported in full against the first holder.
• Wrong PAN. A deductor may have quoted your PAN for someone else's payment, or quoted the wrong PAN for yours, so TDS appears against the wrong person.
• Timing of TDS statements. A deductor who files late, or revises a statement, makes Form 26AS change after you have checked it.
• Exempt income. Items such as interest on NRE deposits or tax-free bonds may appear but should not be taxed.

How to correct AIS

Each AIS entry has a feedback option on the income tax portal. You can state that the information is correct, incorrect, a duplicate, relates to another person or another year, or is income not taxable in your hands. Where you give a revised value, the reporting entity is asked to confirm or correct it.

Feedback does not automatically remove an entry, so keep the bank certificate, contract note or other evidence that supports your figure. If an entry is wrong because a deductor quoted the wrong PAN, the deductor has to correct the TDS statement; feedback alone will not move the credit.

A reconciliation routine before filing

1. Download AIS, TIS and Form 26AS for the year, along with bank interest certificates, broker capital gains statements and mutual fund consolidated statements.
2. Match each AIS line to a source record, and mark it as agreed, timing difference, duplicate, wrong person or genuinely omitted.
3. Match every TDS credit in Form 26AS to your income, so that both the income and the credit are reported.
4. Submit AIS feedback for incorrect and duplicate entries, and follow up with deductors on missing or wrongly reported TDS.
5. Prepare the return on reconciled figures, and keep the reconciliation with your records.

For taxpayers with many accounts, brokers or mutual fund folios, the matching step is where most of the time goes. Automating it, with every exception reviewed by a person, is what makes a full reconciliation practical every year.

If a notice arrives anyway

Communications about mismatches usually list the specific items the department thinks were not reported. A short, item-by-item reply with the reconciliation and supporting documents is normally the most effective response. Where income really was omitted from an earlier return, an updated return may be the cleaner course, depending on the year and the amounts.

This article is general information based on the law as understood on 19 October 2026. Rules, thresholds and form numbers change, and the facts of each case matter. It is not professional advice.