Form 26AS is your consolidated Tax Credit Statement — it shows all TDS deducted from your income, advance tax payments, and tax refunds during a financial year. Before filing your ITR, you MUST download and cross-verify Form 26AS against your income and TDS certificates (Form 16, interest certificates).
How to Download Form 26AS (Step-by-Step)
- Visit incometax.gov.in and login with your PAN and password
- On the dashboard, click 'e-File' → 'Income Tax Returns' → 'View Form 26AS'
- You will be redirected to TRACES (TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System)
- On TRACES portal, go to 'My Account' → 'View Form 26AS'
- Select the Assessment Year (for FY 2025-26, select AY 2026-27)
- Choose 'View/Download' → select 'HTML' for online viewing or 'PDF' for download
- The PDF is password-protected — password is your date of birth in DDMMYYYY format
What Each Part of Form 26AS Contains
| Part | Contents |
|---|---|
| Part A | TDS on salary (deducted by employer, Section 192) |
| Part A1 | TDS on non-salary income (freelance, interest, rent) |
| Part A2 | TDS on property sale transactions (buyer deducts TDS at 1%) |
| Part B | TCS (Tax Collected at Source) — car dealers, foreign remittance, etc. |
| Part C | Self-assessment tax and advance tax payments (challan details) |
| Part D | Tax refunds received from Income Tax Department |
| Part E | AIR (Annual Information Return) — large transactions |
| Part F | TDS on sale of immovable property (Section 194IA) |
| Part G | TDS defaults — outstanding demands against your PAN |
Form 26AS vs AIS — What's the Difference?
Form 26AS shows TDS, advance tax, and refunds. The AIS (Annual Information Statement) is more comprehensive — it includes all financial transactions reported to the IT department: savings interest, dividends, property purchases/sales, share/MF transactions, foreign remittances, GST turnover, and more. From FY 2021-22, AIS is the primary verification tool. Always download BOTH and reconcile with your ITR.
Common Issues & How to Resolve Them
- TDS not reflecting: Contact the deductor (employer/bank) — they may not have filed their TDS return. Give them Form 27A to file a correction.
- PAN-Aadhaar mismatch: If PAN is inoperative (not linked to Aadhaar), TDS entries may not reflect correctly.
- Wrong TDS amount: Deductor needs to file TDS correction to fix — you cannot correct Form 26AS yourself.
- Missing self-assessment tax: Check your challan counterfoil from bank. Allow 5–7 working days for it to appear in 26AS.