Form 136 under the Income-tax Act, 2025 is a statutory application for allotment of Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN), a unique identifier for government accounts offices involved in TDS/TCS payments through book adjustment. It is mandatory only for central and state government offices such as PAOs, DTOs, and CDDOs that remit taxes without challans, and is not applicable to non-government entities or payments made through challans. The form can be filed online via the TRACES portal or offline before the jurisdictional Commissioner (TDS), and only one AIN is allotted per office. The AIN is essential for filing monthly statements in Form 137 and ensures systematic reporting of tax remittances. Non-utilisation for six months must be reported, and unused AINs may require deactivation. The process includes supervisory verification to ensure authenticity. Overall, the framework enhances transparency, accountability, and efficiency in tracking and reconciliation of government tax transactions.
Income Tax Department
Ministry of Finance, Government of India
FAQs on Income Tax Form 136: Application for allotment of Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN) under Income tax Act 2025
Form No. 136 (Application for allotment of AIN)
Form No. 136 — Frequently Asked Questions
Application for allotment of Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN)
| Name of form as per I.T. Rules, 1962 | – | Name of form as per I.T. Rules, 2026 | 136 |
| Corresponding section of I.T. Act, 1961 | _ | Corresponding section of I.T. Act, 2025 | _ |
| Corresponding Rule of I.T. Rules, 1962 | – | Corresponding Rule of I.T. Rules, 2026 | 218(8)(b) |
1. What is Form No. 136?
Ans: Form No. 136 is used for filing application for allotment of Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN).
2. What is Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN)?
Ans: Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN) is a unique seven-digit number which is allotted by the Directorate of Income Tax (Systems), Delhi, to every Accounts Office based on application filed in Form No. 136. Each Accounts Office is uniquely identified in the system by this number.
3. Who is required to obtain AIN?
Ans: Every Accounts Officer such as Pay and Accounts Officer (PAO), District Treasury Officer (DTO), Cheque Drawing and Disbursing Officer (CDDO) or an equivalent office of the Central or State Government, who are making TDS/TCS payment to the Central Government through book adjustment is required to obtain AIN by filing application in Form No. 136. Using the AIN allotted, the Accounts Officer files the statement in Form No. 137 to report the remittance of TDS/TCS through book adjustment for each month.
4. Can a non-government office obtain AIN?
Ans: No. AIN can be obtained only by the central and state government offices who are making TDS/TCS payment to the Central Government by way of book adjustment.
5. If a central or state government office is making payment of TDS/TCS only through challans and not through book adjustment, does it require to obtain AIN?
Ans: No. AIN is required to be obtained by the central or state government office only if they are making payment of any TDS/TCS to the Central Government through book adjustment.
6. What is the mode of filing of Form No. 136?
Form No. 136 (Application for allotment of AIN)
Ans: Form No. 136 can be filed either online on the TRACES portal of the Income-tax Department or offline before the jurisdictional Commissioner of Income-tax (TDS).
7. How the AIN details are communicated to the applicant?
Ans: If the application is filed online on TRACES, then the details of AIN allotted are communicated to the applicant by Centralized Processing Cell (TDS) through e-mail and SMS on the email ID and mobile number respectively, mentioned in the application, and the applicant can also view the status of the application and AIN details once allotted, on TRACES portal. If the application is filed physically before the jurisdictional Commissioner of Income-tax (TDS), then the allotted AIN details are communicated to the applicant by Directorate of Income-tax (Systems) through e-mail on the email ID mentioned in the offline application.
8. What action is required if the Accounts Office fails to utilise the AIN after allotment?
Ans: After allotment of the Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN), if the same is not utilised for a period of six months for filing Form No. 137 statements, the reasons thereof shall be communicated to the jurisdictional Commissioner of Income-tax (TDS) by the Accounts Office.
9. Can one Accounts Office have multiple AINs?
Ans: An Accounts Office is allotted only one AIN.
10. Can AIN details be modified later?
Ans: Yes. Application for modification of AIN details can be filed either online on the TRACES portal of the Income-tax Department or offline before the jurisdictional Commissioner of Income-tax (TDS).
11. Is quoting TAN mandatory while filing Form No. 136?
Ans: No. However, if the applicant is having TAN at the time of filing Form No. 136, then he must mention the TAN in the relevant column.
Guidance Note on Income Tax Form 136: Application for allotment of Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN) under Income tax Act 2025
Form No. 136: Application for Allotment of Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN)
| Name of form as per I.T. Rules, 1962 | – | Name of form as per I.T. Rules, 2026 | 136 |
| Corresponding section of
I.T. Act, 1961 |
_ | Corresponding section of I.T. Act, 2025 | _ |
| Corresponding Rule of I.T. Rules, 1962 | – | Corresponding Rule of Income-tax Rules, 2026. | 218(8)(b) |
1. Purpose:
Form No. 136 is used for filing application for obtaining an Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN) from the Income-tax Department. AIN is a unique seven-digit number allotted by the Directorate of Income-tax (Systems), Delhi. AIN is required to be obtained by every Accounts Officer of the Central or State Government, where TDS/TCS has been paid to the credit of Central Government without the production of a challan i.e., through book adjustment. Using the AIN, the relevant Accounts Officer such as Pay and Accounts Officer (PAO), District Treasury Officer (DTO), Cheque Drawing and Disbursing Officer (CDDO) etc. files the statement in Form No. 137 to report the remittance of TDS/TCS through book adjustment for each month. AIN is mandatory for filing Form No. 137.
2. Who Should File:
Every Accounts Officer such as Pay and Accounts Officer (PAO), District Treasury Officer (DTO), Cheque Drawing and Disbursing Officer (CDDO) or an equivalent office of the Central or State Government, who are making TDS/TCS payment to the Central Government through book adjustment is required to obtain AIN by filing application in Form No. 136.
3. Eligibility conditions:
The office must be making payment of TDS/TCS to the Central Government through book adjustment. Non-government offices and government offices making TDS/TCS payments only through challans are not required to obtain AIN and hence, should not file this form.
4. Frequency & Due Dates:
> Form No. 136 is required to be filed only once for allotment of AIN.
> An Accounts Office is allotted only one AIN.
> After allotment of the Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN), if the same is not utilised for a period of six months for filing Form No. 137 statements, the reasons thereof shall be communicated to the jurisdictional Commissioner of Income-tax (TDS) by the Accounts Office.
> If the allotted AIN is not required to be used in future due to any reason(s), the Accounts Officer shall immediately submit application for deactivation / cancellation of the AIN, before the jurisdictional Commissioner of Income-tax (TDS) to get the AIN deactivated.
5. Structure of Form No. 136:
A. Particulars of the applicant — Category, Name of Ministry, Sub Ministry Name, Central Government, Name of State, Name of Office, Name of Department, PAO /DTO/CDDO Code, PAO /DTO/CDDO Registration Number, PAO /DTO/CDDO TAN, Address, Contact Details and PAN of PAO /DTO/CDDO making application.
B. Declaration by Applicant:
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- Declaration regarding correctness of information mentioned in the application.
- Declaration regarding communication of reasons to the jurisdictional CIT(TDS) in case the AIN is not utilized for six months.
- Undertaking regarding surrender of AIN to the jurisdictional CIT(TDS) in case AIN is not to be used in future.
C. Counter-Verification by Supervisory Authority above PAO/DTO/CDDO:
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- Verification by the authority supervising the PAO/DTO/CDDO regarding genuineness of the applicant and correctness of the details mentioned in the application.
D. Annexure-I — Ministry Name and Code
E. Annexure-II — Sub Ministry Name and Code
F. Annexure-III — State Name and Code
6. Filing Count:
On an average, around 112 applications for allotment of AIN have been filed each year during the last five financial years.
7. Process flow of Form No. 136:
> Mode of Filing
-
- Online on the TRACES portal, or
- Offline before the jurisdictional Commissioner of Income-tax (TDS).
> Processing
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- Application is verified and forwarded by the office of the jurisdictional Commissioner of Income-tax (TDS) to the Directorate of Income-tax (Systems), with its recommendations for allotment of AIN.
- On recommendations of the jurisdictional Commissioner of Income-tax (TDS), the Directorate of Income-tax (Systems) allots AIN to the applicant.
> Communication of AIN
-
- For both modes of applications (i.e. online or offline), AIN is communicated via email to the email ID mentioned in the application.
- Additionally, in case of application filed online on TRACES, an SMS regarding AIN allotment is also sent to the mobile number mentioned in the application.
- Also, the status of the application and AIN details allotted thereon, can be viewed online on TRACES by the applicant.
> Outcome of Processed Form No. 136:
> A unique AIN is allotted to the Accounts Office.
> AIN enables filing of Form No. 137 for monthly remittance of TDS/TCS made through book adjustment.
> Facilitates systematic reporting and reconciliation of government TDS/TCS transactions.
8. Brief Note on Qualitative Changes:
> Application for allotment of AIN has been made a statutory form as Form No. 136 has been notified in the Income-tax Rules, 2026.
> Counter-verification by the authority supervising the applicant PAO/DTO/CDDO has been made part of the form to ensure the genuineness of the applicant and correctness of the details mentioned in the application.
> Form No. 136 has been enabled for online filing on TRACES using AADHAR or DSC based authentication and system-driven processing.
9. Common Changes Made Across Forms:
1. To make Forms system-friendly and enable e-filing and uploading, certain anomalies found due to grouping of Name, Designation, Address and PAN have been separated into different boxes.
2. Assessment / Financial / Previous year or years have been replaced with Tax year or years, wherever appearing in the Form/Annexure.
3. Changes in Sections, Clauses and Schedules have been aligned as per the Income-tax Act, 2025.
4. Currency symbol “Rs.” has been replaced with “Z”.
