Form 26AS / AIS
✓ Last verified 14 Sep 2026
The short version
Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) are the tax department's own record of your TDS, income, and financial transactions - checking your return against both before filing catches most mismatches that would otherwise trigger a notice.
Form 26AS shows TDS/TCS credited against your PAN; the AIS goes further, aggregating a wider range of financial information the department has visibility into - bank interest, mutual fund transactions, high-value purchases, and more. Since these reflect what the department already knows, any income or TDS you report in your return that doesn't match these documents is a common trigger for a scrutiny notice - see our article on common ITR filing mistakes for why this mismatch is the single most frequent, avoidable cause.
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