The Income Tax Department of India rolled out a new feature on the tax e-filing portal known as the AIS – Annual Information Statement in November 2021. Taxpayers can access the feature by logging into the portal with their unique ID and password. If you wonder what AIS is and its features are, read on to know more.
As the name suggests, the Annual Information Statement (AIS) is a detailed statement of the financial transactions carried out by a taxpayer in a financial year. In other words, the AIS contains details specified under the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961.
Important things to know about AIS
The Annual Information Statement contains a list of all financial transactions you may have undertaken in a financial year, including income gained from different sources such as salary, interest on investments, sale, and purchase of securities (mutual funds, bonds, shares), etc.
The statement is divided into parts, i.e., Part A and Part B. Part A includes your personal information, including name, birth date, Aadhaar number, PAN card number, etc.
Part B in the Annual Information Statement contains your financial transactions-related details, including TDS (Tax Deducted at Source), TCS (Tax Collected at Source), taxes paid, tax refunds received, tax demand and other special financial transactions.
If you notice any error in the details mentioned in your Annual Information Statement, you must immediately notify the Income Tax Department about the error. If you fail to convey, the tax department may assume that the information listed in AIS is accurate or may ask you to explain the reason for the mismatch.
Another vital feature of the Annual Information Statement is TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary). TIS allows you to view a summary of the total income generated in a financial year under different heads, the aggregate value of the sale or purchase of securities, and the aggregate foreign remittance you made during the financial year.
How to download Annual Information Statements?
Downloading the Annual Information Statement is easy. You must follow the below steps to get your AIS:
Step 1
Visit the e-filing portal at www.incometax.gov.in and log into the portal using your unique credentials.
Step 2
Once you log in, click on the ‘Annual Information Statement’ option under the ‘Services’ menu tab. A new pop-up screen will appear.
Step 3
Click on the proceed button, and you will be redirected to a different website.
Step 4
Once you are redirected to a new website, you must select one of the two options – Taxpayer Information Summary or Annual Information Statement.
Step 5
If you want to view only the summary of your transactions, you can click on the TIS option. Select the download arrow on the AIS box if you wish to get a detailed statement. A pop-up will appear on your screen, asking you to choose the format in which you want to download the statement. The download is possible only in two formats – PDF and JSON utility.
Step 6
If you choose to download the Annual Information Statement in PDF format, you can open it with a password. The password is usually a combination of the PAN card and the date of birth in DD-MM-YYYY format.
Final Word
The Indian Income Tax Department introduced the AIS feature to bring more transparency and help the citizens file their tax returns easily.