Form 26 AS of income tax is one of the most important statements of your tax credit. It is very useful and must be referred to when you file your income tax returns.
Here in this article, we would learn many things about Form 26AS which you as a taxpayer must know when you file your tax returns. So, let us start with the basic question and that is:
What is Form 26AS of Income tax and why is it so important?
Form 26 AS of income tax is actually an annual tax statement of proof that what the taxes have been collected were actually deposited to the income tax department.
If you find that the taxes were deducted but they don’t show up in the statement, then you need to raise a request for needful changes to the tax deductor/collector.
Form 26 AS is managed by TRACES (TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System) and can be viewed and downloaded through online platforms like Internet Banking enabled accounts and website of income tax of India.
As a taxpayer, Form 26 AS is important to you due to the following reasons:
1. Because Form 26 AS is mapped to a particular PAN Card. You need to check the statement is correct and the taxes deposited belong to you.
2. Confirm the address and date of birth are correct in form 26 AS.
3. Confirm that all collected taxes are deposited. You must know that during the processing of income taxes, the income tax department matches total income from form 26 AS. If there is any mismatch your ITR would not be processed and you would get a notice from the income tax department. If you want to avoid this, keep on checking your Form 26AS periodically.
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How To Download Form 26AS Of Income Tax Without Registration At TRACES?
If you have an internet banking account at SBI, you can download your Form 26 AS for free and without any registration on the website of TRACES. Here is a step by step guide to download your form 26AS through online banking of SBI.
1. Login to https://www.onlinesbi.com/
2. Click on view tax credit statement (Form 26 AS) under e-Tax.
3. A new screen will appear with your account details, on the footer of the screen, there is a tab ”submit”, click on submit.
4. Another screen will appear with the account number, customer number, customer name, address, PAN/TAN number, and disclaimer. If all the information is found correct, click on the confirm button on the bottom of the page.
5. You would now be directed to the website of TRACES where you can view and download your form 26 AS.
6. On the website of TRACES, a popup screen appears. Check the box and click on proceed.
7. A new screen appears where you can view and download your Form 26AS. You can view and download Form 26AS for any assessment year since you are paying taxes.
Not only SBI, but all the major banks have above facilities to view and download your Form 26 AS if your PAN CARD is updated in the bank and you have an active internet banking account with them.
Nearly the same steps are applied for viewing and downloading Form 26AS from other banks. For your guidance, we are going to explain how you can do the same with your HDFC net banking account.
How to view your Form 26AS from HDFC net banking?
2. Click on View tax credit statements under Enquire tab.
3. A new screen will come up with your PAN CARD. Check and continue if the PAN CARD number is correct and belongs to you.
4. A popup will appear requesting for entering the CAPTCHA. Do it and you would be directed to the website of TRACES.
5. Now you can follow the steps 6 to 7 as described above and view your Form 26AS at the website of TRACES.
How To View And Download My Form 26AS If I Don’t Have Internet Banking Enabled Savings Account?
If you don’t have an active internet banking account then don’t worry. You can also view and download Form 26AS through income tax website for free. You need to follow below steps to view and download your form 26AS from the website of the income tax department.
1. Login to https://portal.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/e-Filing/UserLogin/LoginHome.html. If you never accessed the website earlier and you're new to the platform you need to register first on the website of income tax department.
2. Once you log on, click on view form 26AS (Tax Credit) under “My Account”.
3. A screen will appear as below. Click on confirm.
4. Once you confirm, you will be directed to the website of TRACES.
5. Now follow the instructions as given above to download your form 26AS.
Now let's read the Form 26AS:
What are the sections of Form 26AS?
Form 26AS is divided into the following parts:
Part A: In this part of the statement, the details regarding the tax deducted at source are shown up.
Here you can find the following information.
Deductor’s Name
The total amount paid/credited,
Deductor’s TAN
Total tax deducted and the total deposited tax.
Part A1: In this section of the report, you can find the details regarding the tax deducted from source for 15G/15H.
Part A2: The information regarding the tax deducted at source on the sale of immovable property (u/s 194IA) and tax deducted on the source on rent of the property (u/s 194IB) are shown up in this section.
Part B: In this section of the report, you will find details about TCS or tax collected at source.
Part C: Here the details about taxes paid (other than TCS or TDS) are given.
Part D: You got your tax refunds, such detail is available here.
Part E: This section shows up annual information return (AIR) transactions (high-value financial transactions).
Part F: Here the details of TDS on sale of immovable properties (u/s 194IA) and rent of properties (u/s 194IB) for buyers/tenants of property are given.
Part G: You can find "TDS Defaults" in this section.
So we can see the form has 9 sections and each section shows up particular details of taxes collected/deducted from different sources.
However, the form 26 AS just does not complete after part G, you can find tons of valuable information below part G which is very useful in learning and understanding the form 26AS.
Conclusion:
Form 26AS is an important tax statement for all taxpayers. You could easily find the details regarding, TCS (tax collected from source), TDS (tax deducted from source), refund details, advance and self-assessment tax deposited to banks by a taxpayer in one single document.
It is a very convenient way to find all your tax-related information in a single piece of paper. So, the next time when you file your taxes, don’t forget to download your form 26AS before you submit your tax returns.
Do you have any questions regarding Form 26AS of income tax? Please don’t forget to ask us anything where you have doubts. Happy Investing.