Why it is important to check Form 26AS before filing Income Tax Return



Quick Summary
Form 26AS is a crucial annual tax statement detailing all taxes paid, deducted, or collected on your behalf. It's essential to review this document thoroughly before filing your Income Tax Return (ITR). This statement includes information on Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), Tax Collected at Source (TCS), advance tax, self-assessment tax, and details of high-value transactions. Ensuring the information in Form 26AS accurately reflects your income and tax credits is vital to prevent future issues and potential notices from the tax department.

There is a great need and importance of thorough checking of Form 26AS before filing Income Tax Return, as it is an Annual tax statement which provide the details of tax paid, tax deducted or collected at source as the case may be, of the respected assessee. Assessee has to mandatorily disclose the corresponding income in his ITR which is reflecting in Form 26AS against which TDS/TCS has been made. It acts as a statement that provides various details like as follows;

1) TDS/TCS Details of the Assessee

Form 26AS shows the details of tax deducted by any person or entity i.e. deductor in Part A under various sections like 194A, 194C etc. or tax collected at source u/s 206C series in Part B.

Check Form 26AS Before Filing Income Tax Return

2) Details of high volume transactions in Part E

Like if any assessee has been engaged in any transaction which involved a huge amount like purchase or sale of immovable property above the transaction value of 30,00,000 INR.

3) Details of Tax paid by the assessee in Part C

Advance tax or self-assessment tax paid by the assessee during the relevant financial year. Also if any tax paid by the assessee for reasons other mentioned above like tax on regular assessment u/s 143 or in pursuance of demand notice issued u/s 156.

 

4) Income tax Refund in Part D

If any amount which is refundable by the department is reflected in the Form 26AS, it is important to note that if any refund which is provided by the department, then interest will be also be a part of that refund i.e. interest on income tax refund which is separately reflected in the row which should be taken into account while filing ITR otherwise it will lead to intimation u/s 143(1) for correction later on, as such interest is taxable under the head “IFOS”.

Form 26AS can also be termed as annual tax credit statement which reflects how much tax credit is accumulated during the financial year which can be used to pay taxes at the time of filing ITR.

Apart from the above, one should always check whether the income reflecting in the form is correct and best to the knowledge of assessee, as it can create problems latter on if assessee fails to show the income which is reflecting in the Form 26AS and denies the same that income does not belong to him, sometimes it happen that TDS has been made wrongly due to wrong furnishing of PAN details, therefore one should look after that Form 26AS reflects true and correct info about income and tax details.

 

Conclusion

At last, would like to conclude that Form 26AS is the most important statement while filing an ITR. One should always match the details with it for avoiding any notices and intimations from the department.

FAQ :

Form 26AS is an annual tax statement that provides details of tax paid, tax deducted, or tax collected at source for an assessee.

Checking Form 26AS is important because it ensures that the income and tax details reported in your Income Tax Return (ITR) match the records held by the tax department, helping to avoid discrepancies and future notices.

Form 26AS provides details of TDS/TCS, advance tax paid, self-assessment tax paid, and tax paid on regular assessment or demand notices.

Yes, Part E of Form 26AS shows details of high-value transactions, such as the purchase or sale of immovable property exceeding a certain value.

If the information in Form 26AS is incorrect, such as wrong PAN details leading to incorrect TDS, you should ensure it is corrected as it reflects your income and tax details.

Yes, Form 26AS reflects any amount refundable by the department, including interest on income tax refunds, which should be accounted for when filing your ITR.




About the Author

Practicing Chartered Accountant

CA. Pushp Kumar Sahu is a practicing Associate member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, LLB, B. Com, has significant experience in the field of Direct Taxation and International Taxation, dealt with numerous numbers of Assessment, Search Seizure, Survey Cases. His core area of practice is handling com ... Read more

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