Since it’s introduction in 2021, the Annual Information Statement (AIS) has become one of the key documents for filing taxes. It shows all the income, transactions, and taxes reported under your PAN helping taxpayers report their income correctly, and allows the Income Tax Department to verify the details you’ve declared.
Hence, we also recommend everyone filing their ITR to first review everything mentioned in the AIS thoroughly.
Lately, though, many taxpayers have reported errors in the data shown in their AIS. That’s because the AIS collects information from multiple third-party sources like banks, stock depositories, registrars, and others. If there’s a mistake at the source, it reflects directly in your AIS.
That’s how mismatches happen. And if they go unnoticed, it can cause trouble while filing or even lead to scrutiny notices.
What are the common mismatches being reported in the AIS?
Some of the most frequent errors faced by taxpayers include:
1. Capital gains mismatch
When it comes to capital gains data, a common issue people face is the AIS showing the closing price of the stock instead of the actual sale price. For example, if you sold a stock for ₹50 but the AIS shows ₹51, that ₹1 difference can alter your capital gains and trigger scrutiny during the assessment.
This discrepancy arises because depositories may have reported the closing value on the transaction date, not the price at which the trade was executed.
2. Real estate mismatch
For people who jointly own and register a property, the AIS often reports the full value under each co-owner’s PAN. It doesn’t account for who actually contributed the funds.
Suppose a husband and wife co-own a flat worth ₹1 crore, but only the husband financed it. The AIS may still show ₹1 crore under both their PANs, doubling the reported value to ₹2 crores and leading to potential tax notices.
3. FD interest errors
A lot of people choose to receive FD interest at maturity, but tax on that interest is meant to be paid every year as it accrues. Even if you’ve done that, the AIS may still show the full amount again in the final year, leading to duplicated income in your records.
For example, you do a ₹5 lakh fixed deposit at 7% interest, yielding about ₹35,000 per year. Over five years, that totals ₹1.75 lakh in interest, which gets taxed annually. But in the fifth year, the AIS shows the same ₹1.75 lakh again; duplicating the income in your records.
If you come across any of these mismatches in your AIS, here’s what you can do next.
What can taxpayers do if there’s an AIS mismatch?
If you have found an error in your AIS, you can rectify it by submitting AIS Feedback on the Income Tax Portal.
Here’s how:
- Log in to the Income Tax portal.
- Click on AIS, this will redirect you to the Compliance Portal.
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Select the relevant financial year (FY 2024-25).
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You’ll see a list of reported transactions. Find the one with the issue and click the “Feedback” button next to it.
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Choose the response that best fits your case.
Once you submit the feedback, keep supporting documents ready like bank statements, sale agreements, or TDS certificates, in case the ITD asks for clarification later.
For example, if interest income from a fixed deposit is reported incorrectly, your bank’s interest certificate or FD maturity statement can help you back it up.
And one last thing, it might take some time for the changes to reflect in the AIS. So you need not necessarily wait until then. Go ahead and file your return with the correct values, and be prepared in case you get a scrutiny notice.
Here’s a detailed video on everything about AIS:
Happy tax filing!