Form 26AS vs AIS vs TIS: Which One Should You Actually Use for ITR Filing?

If you've logged into the Income Tax portal recently to file your return, you've probably noticed three different statements staring back at you — Form 26AS, the Annual Information Statement (AIS), and the Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). All three claim to show your tax-related information. All three can show different numbers for the same transaction. And none of them explain which one you should actually use.

This confusion is not your fault. These three documents evolved at different times, serve overlapping purposes, and the Income Tax department hasn't been particularly clear about how they relate to each other.

This article explains exactly what each one is, what it shows, how they differ, and — most importantly — what to do when the numbers don't match.

What is Form 26AS?

Form 26AS is the oldest of the three. It has existed since the early 2000s and most taxpayers and chartered accountants are familiar with it.

It is essentially a tax credit statement — a record of all tax that has been deducted or collected on your behalf and deposited with the government.

What Form 26AS shows:

• TDS deducted by your employer (salary)
• TDS deducted by banks on FD interest
• TDS deducted on any other payments (rent, professional fees, etc.)
• TCS collected on purchases (cars, foreign remittance, etc.)
• Advance tax and self-assessment tax paid by you
• Refunds received from the Income Tax department
• High-value transactions reported by banks and registrars (Part E)

What Form 26AS does NOT show:

• The actual income behind each TDS entry
• Transactions where no TDS was deducted
• Capital gains from mutual funds or stocks (in detail)
• Interest income below the TDS threshold

The key limitation: Form 26AS only captures transactions where tax was deducted or paid. If your bank credited ₹80,000 in FD interest but deducted no TDS (because you submitted Form 15G/15H), that interest does not appear in Form 26AS at all.

What is the AIS (Annual Information Statement)?

The AIS was introduced in November 2021 and is a significant expansion of the information available to taxpayers. It pulls data from multiple reporting sources — not just TDS returns.

What AIS shows:

• Everything in Form 26AS, plus:
• Interest income from savings accounts (reported by banks)
• Dividend income (reported by companies and mutual funds)
• Securities transactions — shares and mutual fund purchases and sales
• Real estate transactions (reported by registrars)
• Foreign remittances sent or received
• GST turnover (reported by GSTN)
• Salary details as reported by employer
• Rent received (in some cases)

The important difference: AIS captures financial activity regardless of whether TDS was deducted. The bank reports your savings account interest to the Income Tax department even if it's ₹500 — and it will appear in your AIS.

AIS also allows you to submit feedback. If a transaction is incorrect, duplicated, or doesn't belong to you, you can mark it in the AIS portal. This feedback is considered by the department.

What is TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary)?

TIS is not a separate data source. It is a summarised view of your AIS — consolidated by category after incorporating any feedback you've submitted.

TIS shows category-wise totals — total salary, total interest income, total dividend, total securities transactions — in a format that directly maps to the ITR schedules. When you start filing, the portal uses TIS values to auto-populate the return.

How the Three Relate to Each Other

Think of it as a flow: Form 26AS captures tax credits only (TDS/TCS/advance tax). AIS captures all financial information reported to the IT department. TIS is the consolidated summary, built from AIS after your feedback, used for ITR prefill.

Form 26AS remains relevant specifically for verifying tax credits — making sure all TDS deducted on your behalf is actually reflecting before you file. If a TDS entry is missing from Form 26AS, you cannot claim that credit in your ITR.

Which One Should You Use for Filing?

The honest answer is: all three, for different purposes.

• To verify TDS credits before filing → Form 26AS
• To check what income the department has on record → AIS
• To reconcile and prefill ITR schedules → TIS
• To submit feedback on wrong entries → AIS

The practical workflow:

1. Download AIS first — get the complete picture
2. Review each entry — identify anything incorrect or not yours
3. Submit feedback on AIS for wrong entries
4. Download TIS after feedback — use these figures for ITR
5. Cross-check Form 26AS to ensure all TDS credits are reflecting
6. File ITR — reconcile your own records with TIS figures

When They Conflict — The Most Common Situations

AIS shows interest income your bank passbook doesn't match. Banks sometimes report interest on an accrual basis even when they credit it annually. Your passbook may show ₹45,000 while AIS shows ₹48,000. This difference is usually timing. Check with your bank for the exact figure and file based on actual interest credited or accrued as per your bank certificate.

A transaction appears twice in AIS. Duplicate entries are common — especially for property and mutual fund transactions reported by both the AMC and the registrar. Submit "Duplicate" feedback on one entry; the corrected TIS will show the right figure.

AIS shows a transaction that isn't yours. PAN misquoting happens — someone else's transaction gets linked to your PAN. Submit "Information is not fully correct" or "Information relates to other PAN/year" feedback in AIS. If it persists, raise a grievance on the IT portal.

Form 26AS shows TDS but the income isn't in AIS. Trust Form 26AS for the TDS credit. Report the underlying income in your ITR based on your own records.

TIS prefill doesn't match your own calculation. You are not required to file the prefilled figures — you can edit them. File based on your actual income, but ensure you can substantiate any figure that differs from AIS/TIS if asked.

The One Discrepancy That Generates Most Notices

Interest income below the TDS threshold. Banks deduct TDS on FD interest only when it exceeds ₹40,000 per year (₹50,000 for senior citizens). Below this threshold, no TDS is deducted — so the income doesn't appear in Form 26AS. But banks still report this interest to the IT department, and it appears in AIS. If you don't include it in your ITR, the system flags it as unreported income — and a notice under Section 143(1) follows. This single oversight is the most common reason for mismatch notices.