Before filing an income-tax return, most taxpayers and their CAs look at three statements from the Income Tax Department: Form 26AS, the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and the Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). They overlap, but they are built for different jobs, and from tax year 2026-27 the naming changes under the Income-tax Act, 2025, with Form 168 taking over from Form 26AS. This guide explains what each statement shows, which one to use for which check, how the transition works, and a step-by-step reconciliation with worked examples.
The three statements side by side
| Statement | What it shows | Main use before filing |
|---|---|---|
| Form 26AS (Annual Tax Statement) | From AY 2023-24 onwards, only TDS and TCS data of the taxpayer | Matching tax credits with Form 16, Form 16A and other certificates |
| AIS | Transaction-level information held by the Department: TDS/TCS, SFT, tax payments, demand and refund, and other information | Finding income or transactions reported by third parties, and giving feedback on wrong entries |
| TIS | Category-wise totals (salary, interest, dividend and so on) derived from AIS, showing the processed value and the value accepted by the taxpayer or confirmed by the source | Checking the figures that will be used to pre-fill the return |
These descriptions come from the Department's AIS FAQs, which state that "From AY 2023-24 onwards, Annual Tax Statement (Form 26AS) available on TRACES portal displays only TDS/TCS related data of the taxpayer", with other information moved to AIS.
Form 26AS and the move to Form 168
The Income-tax Act, 2025 has applied from 1 April 2026, and the related Income-tax Rules, 2026 give the statements new form numbers. The Department's service page on the Annual Tax Statement shows two versions:
- Form 26AS: "Applicable upto Assessment Year 2026-27 as per Income-tax Act, 1961", covering previous years up to 2025-26.
- Form 168: "Applicable from Tax Year 2026-27 onwards as per Income-tax Act, 2025".
In practice, the return for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27), filed during 2026, is still prepared under the 1961 Act and reconciled with Form 26AS. Form 168 becomes the reference statement for tax year 2026-27 (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027) and later years. Both are accessed through the e-filing portal.
The notified Form 168 is prescribed under rule 245 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 and is titled "Annual Information Statement (AIS)". Its structure is wider than the old TDS-only Form 26AS:
- Part A: particulars of the person, including name, date of birth or incorporation, address, PAN, email and contact details.
- Part B: information relating to TDS/TCS; specified financial transactions (SFT); payment of taxes (advance, self-assessment and regular); demand and refund; pending proceedings; completed proceedings; and any other information under rule 245(2).
So under the 2025 Act the annual statement and the AIS are brought together in one prescribed form. Taxpayers should expect the portal views to evolve over tax year 2026-27, while the reconciliation logic below stays the same.
What AIS contains
The AIS FAQs describe AIS as a "comprehensive view of information for a taxpayer", intended to display complete information, promote voluntary compliance and deter non-compliance. It has two parts:
- Part A, general information: PAN, masked Aadhaar number, name, date of birth, incorporation or formation, mobile number, email and address.
- Part B: TDS/TCS information; SFT information; payment of taxes (advance tax and self-assessment tax); demand and refund; and other information such as Annexure II salary data, interest on refund and foreign remittances.
AIS can be downloaded as PDF, JSON or CSV. The CSV and JSON versions are the practical choice for a CA reconciling dozens of interest or securities entries in a spreadsheet.
AIS is not exhaustive. The FAQs state that AIS "includes information presently available with Income Tax Department. There may be other transactions relating to the taxpayer which are not presently displayed." A missing entry is not proof that income was not earned.
How TIS and feedback work together
TIS aggregates AIS by category. For each category it shows the value processed by the system and the value accepted by the taxpayer or confirmed by the source. When a taxpayer submits feedback on an AIS entry, the modified value is shown alongside the reported value, and the accepted or confirmed value is what the Department uses to pre-fill the return.
That makes feedback a real step, not a formality. If an entry belongs to someone else, is duplicated or has the wrong amount, raise it through the AIS feedback facility and keep the evidence: bank statement, broker contract note, Form 16 or 16A, sale deed or interest certificate. Feedback should record facts; it should never be used to reduce a figure that is correct.
Worked examples
Interest income higher than AIS
AIS shows savings and fixed deposit interest of ₹48,000. The taxpayer's certificates from two banks show ₹52,000, because interest of ₹4,000 on a recurring deposit at a cooperative bank does not appear in AIS. Taxable interest is ₹52,000. AIS is an information source, not a ceiling on income, and the FAQs say plainly that some transactions may not be displayed.
Duplicate securities transaction
AIS shows two identical sales of 200 shares at ₹1,450 each on the same date, a total of ₹5,80,000, while the broker's contract note shows one sale of ₹2,90,000. Compare with the contract note, submit feedback that the second entry is a duplicate, and compute capital gains on the single ₹2,90,000 sale. Keep the contract note with the working papers.
TDS credit short in Form 26AS
Form 16A from a client shows TDS of ₹15,000 on professional fees of ₹1,50,000, but Form 26AS shows only ₹10,000 from that deductor. Before filing, ask the deductor to check whether a quarter's TDS statement was filed with a wrong PAN or amount and to correct it. Claiming a credit that the statement does not show usually leads to a mismatch when the return is processed.
Pre-filing reconciliation, step by step
- Tax credits: match every TDS and TCS line in Form 26AS (or Form 168 from tax year 2026-27) with certificates and with the income on which tax was deducted.
- Income categories in AIS: review salary, interest, dividend, securities, SFT and other information for missing or unfamiliar items; use the CSV download for volume.
- Tax payments: confirm advance tax and self-assessment tax challans appear correctly.
- Demand and refund: check that any outstanding demand or refund shown matches your records.
- TIS totals: compare each category total and pre-fill value with your own computation.
- Classify each difference: timing, duplication, wrong PAN, wrong amount, or income missing from AIS.
- Act: submit AIS feedback for wrong entries, ask deductors to correct TDS statements, and report income missing from AIS.
- File from your own computation: the return should reflect the complete tax position supported by primary records, not whatever the pre-fill shows.
Mistakes to avoid
- Expecting Form 26AS to show SFT, property or other financial transactions that moved to AIS from AY 2023-24.
- Treating AIS as complete, or treating an absent entry as non-taxable income.
- Accepting TIS pre-fill values without reconciling to certificates and statements.
- Ignoring a wrong AIS entry instead of submitting feedback with evidence.
- Looking for Form 168 for the FY 2025-26 return, which is still reconciled with Form 26AS under the 1961 Act.
Updated on 27 September 2026: merged the duplicate Form 26AS vs AIS vs TIS article; added the switch from Form 26AS to Form 168 under rule 245 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 for tax year 2026-27, the Part A and Part B contents of AIS and Form 168, download formats, and worked examples with figures.
