Discover surprising elements in your Annual Information Statement (AIS) for Income Tax. Understand the AIS categories, transactions, and how to access, denying incorrect information. Stay informed for accurate income tax filing.
Recently in the year 2021, the Income Tax Department came out with a new functionality called the Annual Information Statement (AIS) through which the information gathered by the department from various sources against your PAN was consolidated and provided to the taxpayer to assist him while filing his return of Income. This functionality also aided the assessing officer to generate notices for mismatches between the return filed and the information in AIS in case of under-reporting, and also to the non-filers who have income in AIS but had failed to file the Income tax return.
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What is Annual Information Statement (AIS)?
The Annual Information Statement (AIS) is a document that provides taxpayers with a summary of their financial transactions during the financial year. The AIS is primarily intended to help taxpayers prepare and file their income tax returns accurately. By providing a summary of their financial transactions, taxpayers can ensure that they include all their income sources while filing their returns. This can help to avoid under-reporting of income, which can result in penalties and fines from the Income Tax Department.
The AIS is sub-divided into 5 parts:
♦ SFT Information
♦ Payment of Taxes
♦ Demand & Refund
♦ Pending and Completed Proceedings
♦ Other Information
Transactions reported in Annual Information Statement (AIS)
Most of the information in AIS are from Form 26AS, consisting of details of tax deducted on account of salary, rental income, interest from banks and financial institutions and others, professional income, and other. Additionally, there are a few transactions that might reflect in your AIS as an SFT reporting by some of the specified entities:
1. All cash deposits of Rs 10 lakhs or more in a financial year, in savings as well as FD accounts, by an individual from one or more accounts of a banking company/ co-operative bank/ post office/ NBFC.
2. Cash withdrawals of Rs 10 lakhs or more in a financial year, in savings as well as FD accounts, by an individual from one or more accounts of a banking company/ co-operative bank/ post office/ NBFC.
3. Payment made in cash for the purchase of bank drafts or pay orders or banker’s cheque of an amount of Rs 10 lakhs or more in a financial year.
4. Cash deposits or withdrawals aggregating to Rs 50 lakhs or more in a financial year, in or from one or more current accounts of a person.
5. All payments made through credit cards of Rs 1 lakh or more in a financial year by an individual.
6. Purchase of debentures or bonds exceeding Rs 10 lakhs in a financial year.
7. Purchase of units of Mutual Funds exceeding Rs 10 lakhs in a financial year.
8. Purchase of shares exceeding Rs 10 lakhs in a financial year.
9. Sale of immovable property valued at Rs 30 lakhs or more.
10. Purchase of Foreign Currency: Purchase of foreign currency exceeding Rs 10 lakhs in a financial year.
11. Sale of goods or services exceeding Rs 50 lakhs in a financial year.
12. Cash paid while purchasing any goods or services in a single day in excess of Rs. 2 Lakhs.
13. Sale of units of mutual funds or equity shares
Categories of information that can form part of your Annual Information Statement (AIS)
The information from the AIS is mainly from these sources:
♦ TDS returns filed by the tax deductor
♦TCS return filed by the tax collector
♦ SFT filed by the Specified entities
♦ Form 26QB / Form 27Q filed by the property buyer
♦ Advance Tax and Self-assessment taxes paid through NSDL or IT portal by the assessee
♦ Sales and Purchase details from GST returns filed
♦ Other information such as Outward Foreign Remittance/Purchase of Foreign Currency etc.,
How to access AIS
Income Tax Department has launched a Mobile app for taxpayer to view AIS in the name “AIS for Taxpayers”, which can be downloaded from the play store and app store. The assessee needs to verify his email and mobile number as updated in the IT portal with OTP and he can set a 4-digit PIN to access AIS from mobile phone. However, there is an option to change contact details as well.
To access the AIS from your IT portal, the assessee must login to the E-filing portal of the Income tax and click on the services tab, in which one can find the AIS. AIS can be downloaded as a Json file or as a PDF file.
It is a password-protected file and the password is the PAN number, in small case followed by the DOB in DD MM YYYY format.
How to deny the information if found incorrect in AIS?
In case of any differences in the actual transaction and that stated in AIS, you can provide feedback to the AIS stating that the information is incorrect and does not relate to your PAN. However, you have to be ready with the backup papers to support your stand in case notices are received from the department in this regard.
Author Bio
So well given all the requisite details in so simple manner. Best wishes for all your future endevours.