AIS can be of great help when the taxpayer is assessing his advance tax requirements and when the taxpayer is filing his tax return.
The most recent transformation by the income tax authorities is the launch of the ‘Annual information Statement’ (AIS), a comprehensive statement that provides a record of your digital transactions in a year. This statement provides more information than the 26AS, as it offers details of income where taxes are not withheld and financial transactions that the taxpayer has entered into during the year.
The objective of disclosing this information is to make things more transparent between the tax department and the taxpayer.
Structure of AIS:
AIS is divided into two parts – Part A consists of personal information of the taxpayer such as name, address, Aadhaar number, PAN etc.
Part B is divided into several sections; B1 reports income from variable sources such as remuneration, passive income such as interest from savings bank, dividends, and part B2 that reports information on specified financial transactions such as purchase and sale of securities, mutual funds etc. Section B3 provides information on payment of taxes while B4 reports details relating to demand or refund.
One advantage of the AIS information is that it reports income details irrespective of whether the taxes are withheld or not. In the past, most taxpayers failed to report interest income as this was not reported in 26AS, but now there is visibility on the all income earned.
The AIS would keep updating as and when the various payers (such as companies declaring dividend or interest, employer paying remuneration) report more details for the year through the tax withholding returns.
The AIS can be accessed by logging into the tax portal under the services section tab. The information statement can also be downloaded and saved, if necessary.
How useful is AIS
The AIS can be of great help when the taxpayer is assessing his advance tax requirements and when the taxpayer is filing his tax return. The information provided in the AIS is a readymade reminder to him of all his income and investments for the year. Thus, he would now have lesser challenge in collecting information on income and taxes.
One should remember that while AIS reports on digital transactions are available with the tax department, there could also be some income which is taxable in the hands of the individual but not reported, such as tuition fees or that of small entrepreneurs and proprietors. Hence the taxpayer cannot solely rely on AIS and needs to verify the details mentioned therein. It is also possible that data reported in the AIS is erroneous and hence the taxpayer has an option to notify the same to the tax department. The statement shall then reflect both the values. The tax department is in the process of adding new features which would prove helpful in future.
Thus, AIS is a useful tool made available by the tax department that shares information to the taxpayer about his income, taxes and investment. The taxpayer is required to keep an accurate account of his income and assets; this tool helps verify the same.
(By Aarti Raote, Partner, Deloitte India, and Sudeep Kumar, Manager with Deloitte Haskins and Sells LLP)
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