How To Access Annual Information Statement (AIS) Online While Filing Income Tax Return

Income Tax Return (ITR) Filing 2022-23: The government last week said that it is not considering extending the last date for filing income tax returns as it expects most returns to come in by the due date of July 31, a top official said on Friday.

Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said over 2.3 crore income returns were filed by July 20 for fiscal 2021-22 and the numbers are picking up. Last fiscal (2020-21), about 5.89 crore ITRs (Income Tax Returns) were filed by the extended due date of December 31, 2021. The deadline for filing income tax returns was extended in 2020 and 2021 as the country was going through Covid-19 pandemic.

As per I-T rules, the deadline for filing ITRs of a fiscal by individual taxpayers who do not need to get their accounts audited is July 31 of the subsequent financial year.

Income Tax Return (ITR) Filing: What Is Annual Information Statement?

The government has enlarged the scope of Form 26AS to cover information regarding various transactions made by a person during the year. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has omitted Rule 31AB, and a new Rule 114-I has been inserted to provide that the authorities will upload the Annual Information Statement (AIS) in Form No. 26AS in the registered account of the assessee. Such form consists of the following information:

• Information relating to TDS and TCS;
• Information relating to Specified Financial Transactions (SFT);
• Information relating to the payment of taxes;
• Information relating to demand and refund;
• Information relating to pending proceedings;
• Information relating to completed proceedings; and
• Information received from any officer, authority, or body performing any functions under any law or information received under an agreement referred under section 90 or section 90A or information received from any other person to the extent it may be deemed fit in the interest of the revenue.

All such relevant information available in AIS will be automatically pre-filled in the relevant ITR Form.

Income Tax Return Filing: How To Access Annual Information Statement (AIS) Online?

The followings are the steps to access the AIS information online:

Step 1: Log in to the Income-tax e-filing website at https://www.incometax.gov.in. If you are a new user, you will be required to first register on the e-filing portal.

Step 2: After login, click on Services > Annual Information Statement (AIS)

Step 3: A message will appear that will prompt you to click on ‘proceed’ to redirect to the AIS homepage.

Step 4: The next screen provides the instructions relating to the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). TIS displays the information available in AIS category-wise. It shows the original and revised values (i.e., value processed after the taxpayer’s feedback). The revised values in TIS are used for pre-filling of return.

Step 5: Click on the next tab of ‘AIS’. On the redirected screen, two tiles appear – Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) and Annual Information Statement (AIS). Select the relevant financial year from the drop-down and click on the AIS tile to view the information.

Step 6: On the next screen, the information available in AIS is displayed in Part A and Part B. Part A contains the general information about a taxpayer (i.e., PAN, Aadhaar, name, date of birth, mobile number, e-mail id, and address). Part B contains the comprehensive information of a taxpayer for the selected financial year as uploaded by the prescribed income-tax authority. The information in Part B is divided into the following categories:

• TDS/TCS Information
• SFT Information
• Payment of Taxes
• Demand and Refund 
• Other Information

Step 7: The information available in AIS can be downloaded in CSV, JSON, or PDF format. The user will have to download the transactions in CSV format for every category of transaction separately. In contrast, the entire AIS can be downloaded only in PDF or JSON.