Form 26AS vs AIS vs TIS: How to Reconcile TDS Before Filing ITR

Most income-tax notices for salaried people and small businesses start with a mismatch: income or TDS in the department's records that doesn't match the return. The department's systems compare your ITR with what third parties have reported, and the gap turns into an adjustment when the return is processed under Section 143(1), or a query later.

The fix is a short reconciliation before you file. This guide explains the three statements, what changed in 2026, and a method that catches nearly every mismatch.

The three statements, in one table

Statement	What it shows	Use it for
Form 26AS (tax credit statement)	TDS and TCS reported against your PAN, advance tax and self-assessment tax paid, refunds	Your TDS/TCS credit and tax payments
AIS (Annual Information Statement)	Everything reported about you: TDS/TCS, interest, dividends, securities and mutual fund transactions, property purchases, foreign remittances, GST turnover, and more	Making sure every income source is in the return
TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary)	AIS grouped by category, with a processed value and a derived value after your feedback	The figures used to prefill your return

What changed in 2026

The Income-tax Act, 2025 came into force on 1 April 2026, replacing the Income-tax Act, 1961, along with the Income-tax Rules, 2026. Under the new framework, the Annual Information Statement is Form No. 168, issued under section 510 of the 2025 Act and Rule 245 of the 2026 Rules. The department's own mapping lists it as the counterpart of Form 26AS / AIS under section 285BB and Rule 114-I of the old law. Form 168 covers TDS and TCS, specified financial transactions, tax payments, demands and refunds, and pending and completed proceedings, and uses "tax year" in place of "financial year".

Two practical points:

The return for FY 2025-26 (assessment year 2026-27), filed during 2026, relates to income earned under the 1961 Act. The section references in that return and its schedules still follow the 1961 Act.
From tax year 2026-27 onwards, both your return and the statements use the new Act's numbering. The reconciliation method below is the same either way.

Also note two changes made by the Finance Act, 2025, from 1 April 2025: Section 206AB (higher TDS for non-filers) and Section 206CCA (the TCS equivalent) were omitted, and TCS under Section 206C(1H) on sale of goods was withdrawn. Don't apply or expect those higher rates for payments after that date. The higher rate where the payee has not furnished a PAN (Section 206AA of the 1961 Act) still applies.

Which statement decides your TDS credit

Credit for TDS is given to the person whose PAN the deductor reports in its quarterly TDS statement. The processing system allows credit by matching your return's TDS schedule with that data. A TDS certificate (Form 16 or 16A) that doesn't match the statement won't get you the credit. That is why reconciliation is always books and certificates → 26AS/AIS → return, and not the other way round.

Step-by-step reconciliation

Step 1: Download the statements

From the e-filing portal, download the AIS and TIS (PDF and JSON or CSV) and the tax credit statement for the year. Note the date of download; deductors keep filing and correcting returns, so the data changes.

Step 2: List what you expect

From your own records, list every receipt that should have suffered TDS: salary, interest from each bank, rent received, professional or contract receipts, commission, sale of property, winnings. For a business, take the ledger of TDS receivable and the customer-wise receipts.

Step 3: Match deductor by deductor

Match on the deductor's TAN, then on the amount paid or credited and the TDS amount.

Deductor	Amount as per books	Amount as per 26AS	TDS as per books	TDS as per 26AS	Difference	Action
Employer (salary)	18,40,000	18,40,000	2,12,400	2,12,400	0	None
Bank A (FD interest)	96,500	96,500	9,650	9,650	0	None
Client X (194J fees)	6,00,000	4,50,000	60,000	45,000	15,000	Q4 not yet reported: follow up
Tenant (194-IB rent, ₹60,000 a month)	7,20,000	0	14,400	0	14,400	Tenant hasn't filed Form 26QC

Step 4: Check AIS for income you missed

Go through each AIS category and tick it off against the return: savings bank interest (often forgotten), dividends, mutual fund redemptions, share sales, interest on income-tax refunds, and any high-value purchase reported by banks or registrars. A mutual fund redemption in AIS means a capital gain to compute, not the redemption value as income.

Step 5: Give feedback where AIS is wrong

If an AIS entry is wrong (a duplicate, someone else's transaction, or income already shown elsewhere), submit feedback in AIS. The derived value in TIS then changes. This does not delete the information, but it records your position before the department raises a query.

Step 6: Claim TDS in the right year

TDS is credited in the year the related income is offered to tax. If a client deducts TDS in March on an invoice you account for in April, the income and the credit both belong to the year you offer it to tax, and the schedule in the return has a column to carry the credit forward.

The mismatches that cause most adjustments

Wrong or missing PAN in the deductor's statement. Your TDS sits against another PAN, or against none. Only the deductor can fix it, with a correction statement.
Quarter not filed yet. Q4 TDS statements are due by 31 May, so credit for March deductions may appear late. File after it appears, or follow up.
TDS under the wrong section, for example 194C instead of 194J. Credit still comes, but the income head and nature may be questioned.
Gross vs net. Some deductors report the amount net of GST, others gross. Match on the TDS amount when the base differs.
Interest shown on accrual by the bank but on receipt in your books. Align the basis for the year.
Property purchase TDS (Section 194-IA) reported under the wrong PAN of a co-owner.
Salary from two employers in the same year: both Form 16s must be combined, and standard deduction claimed once.

For businesses: reconciling TDS receivable

A business with many customers deducting TDS needs the same reconciliation at ledger level, every quarter rather than once a year.

Export the TDS receivable ledger, customer by customer, with the invoice or receipt each deduction relates to.
Download the TDS data from the statement and group it by deductor TAN and quarter.
Match on TAN, then on the TDS amount. A customer-wise pivot of books vs statement shows who hasn't filed, who filed under the wrong PAN, and who deducted at a different rate.
Write to each customer with a gap, quoting the invoice, the quarter and the amount, and ask for a correction statement or the TDS certificate.
Before closing the year, write off or reclassify amounts that customers have confirmed they will not deposit, rather than carrying a TDS receivable that will never appear.

Doing this quarterly matters because deductors can file correction statements far more easily for recent quarters, and because the customer's accounts team is far more responsive while the payment is still fresh.

When a deductor won't fix it

Keep a written trail: the invoice, proof of the net payment received, and your requests to the deductor. If the deductor has deducted but not deposited the tax, the law treats the deductor as the person in default; you can raise a grievance on the e-filing portal and, if a demand is raised on you, respond with that evidence. Don't claim credit in the return for TDS that is not in the statement. The processing system will disallow it and raise a demand with interest.

Before you click submit

All TDS in the return schedule ties to 26AS/Form 168, deductor by deductor.
Every AIS category is either in the return or has feedback recorded.
Advance tax and self-assessment tax challans appear in the statement.
TDS carried forward is shown in the year the income is offered.
A copy of the statements as downloaded is saved with the return.

Frequently asked questions

Which statement decides how much TDS credit I get?

TDS credit is given on the basis of what the deductor has reported in its TDS statement and what appears against your PAN in Form 26AS (now part of the Annual Information Statement, Form 168). If it isn't there, the processing system will not allow the credit, even if you hold a TDS certificate.

What should I do if AIS shows income that isn't mine?

Use the feedback option in AIS to mark the entry as incorrect, duplicate or belonging to another person. The reporting entity is asked to confirm or correct it. Keep a note of the feedback for your records.

Is Section 206AB still in force?

No. The Finance Act, 2025 omitted Sections 206AB and 206CCA (higher TDS/TCS for non-filers) from 1 April 2025. The higher rate where PAN is not furnished, under Section 206AA of the 1961 Act, continues.

What is the difference between AIS and TIS?

AIS lists every reported transaction in detail. TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary) aggregates those entries by category, showing a processed value and a derived value after your feedback. The derived value is what is used to prefill your return.

My employer deducted TDS but it doesn't show in 26AS. What now?

Ask the employer to check that the TDS return for that quarter was filed with your correct PAN. If not, they must file a correction statement. Credit will appear once the corrected statement is processed.

Sources

General information only, not professional advice. Rules change; check the current law and your facts before acting.