AIS — Annual Information Statement

The AIS is a comprehensive statement on the e-Filing portal that pulls together your financial information for the year — income, taxes deducted, and high-value transactions — so you can cross-check it before preparing your return.

What it is

The AIS is a single, wide statement of what the tax department has on record about your year. It covers salary, interest, dividends, securities and mutual-fund transactions, TDS and TCS, and high-value transactions reported by banks and other entities. Crucially, it includes a feedback facility — if an entry is wrong, duplicated, or belongs to someone else, you can flag it on the portal so the record can be corrected.

Why it matters

The AIS is wider than Form 26AS: where 26AS focuses on tax credits, the AIS also lists the underlying income and transactions. Reviewing it helps you make sure nothing is missed when you compute your taxable income, and helps you spot income reported against your PAN that you may have forgotten. Reconciling the AIS with your own records before you file reduces the chance of a mismatch notice later.

Example Illustrative

Suppose your AIS shows ₹18,000 of savings and FD interest from two banks and ₹6,000 of dividends — income you might otherwise overlook. By reviewing the AIS you can include the full ₹24,000 under other sources when preparing your return, instead of leaving it out and risking a later query. Figures are illustrative only.