Ravi and Teja meet at their snooker club and during the game an interesting conversation related to income tax filing follows.

Ravi: I think I will push off after this frame.

Teja: What’s the rush? Stay for a couple of more frames.

Ravi:  I hope you knowJuly 31 is the last day to file IT returns and I plan to file it off as early as possible and not wait till the eleventh hour.

Teja: Oh gosh, this filing will be a nightmare for me. I need to check all my investments, find out the income accrued, segregate between long term and short-term capital gains and arrange the required documents. I find it very cumbersome.

Ravi: Why don’t you just check Annual Information Statement?

Teja: What is that? Another form/statement which will add to my woes?

Ravi: On the contrary, this statement is one which will ease the process of e-filing.

Teja: Ok, tell me clearly.

Ravi: You see, the problem which you faced is quite common and therefore in November 2021 Annual Information Statement (AIS) was brought in. This can be accessed online through I-T efiling website using your credentials. You can also go to efiling section through your net banking portal and view AIS. This statement is much more comprehensive than Form 26 AS (which only had high-value transactions and tax deducted at source). AIS has extensive information on the financial transactions of the assesses.

Teja: What all information does it have and how is this statement able to give such comprehensive detail?

Ravi: The AIS has information regarding the interest received (savings and term deposits), dividend, securities transactions, mutual fund transactions, foreign remittances, capital gains (both securities and property), special financial transactions etc. It also shows the tax deducted in the year, it also tracks and reports near about 50 types of transactions. To answer your other question, PAN number of the individual is required in most of the financial transactions nowadays and using this Income Tax department pulls out the data.

Teja: Interesting. So, this would mean all the transaction made by me and the tax deducted already will be available in a single statement in prescribed format. That should ease things to certain extent.

Ravi: Indeed, it is advisable that every assessee checks the AIS before filing the return in order to ensure that no item has been left out. It is also necessary to ensure that the AIS and the returns filed match else there is a chance to get notice.

Teja: Is it error free? How can we report if we see any inconsistency?

Ravi: There may be inconsistencies, for instance duplicate entries, incorrect entries or entries belonging to someone else altogether. In such cases, there is a feedback facility where the assessee can inform his/her observations and the department will look into it.

Teja: It sounds fine but what if the transactions are too many and I want to see a simplified version showing income category and Tax deducted and liable.

Ravi: Yes, to solve this problem there is something called as Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) which aggregates similar types of information; dividend, interest, salary etc.  It shows the final amount after taking care of duplicate entries and feedback provided on which tax is liable.

Teja: As I see it, now IT filing will not be a hectic task anymore. We just need to ensure that AIS and the IT we file match.

Ravi: Do note AIS will have the information which IT department has and therefore if there is something missing in the AIS we need to report the transactions accurately to avoid penalty or notices.

Teja: Great to know. I think this will reduce the difficulties and confusion and make IT filing a pleasant exercise.

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