Form 26AS: What It is, how to Download It, and How to Read It
Table of Contents
Your employer deducts tax from your salary every month. So does your bank on your fixed deposit interest. Someone else may have deducted tax when they paid you rent or a professional fee. Form 26AS is where it all appears in one place.
The Income Tax Department issues this annual tax credit statement against your PAN. It shows every rupee of tax deducted or collected on your income. The advance tax and self-assessment tax you paid appear here too, along with refunds and certain high-value transactions, all for one financial year.
Key points
- Form 26AS is a record of tax paid against your PAN, not a record of your income
- It has ten parts, covering TDS, TCS, refunds and defaults
- Download it for free from the income tax e-filing portal, which redirects you to TRACES
- Check it before filing your return, because you can only claim credit for tax that appears here
- From FY 2026-27, the statement is renumbered as Form 168 under the Income Tax Rules, 2026
Form 26AS is Becoming Form 168
From 1 April 2026, the Income Tax Act, 2025 replaced the 1961 Act, and the forms were renumbered under the Income-tax Rules, 2026.
| Old form | New form |
|---|---|
| Form 26AS (tax credit statement) | Form 168 |
| Form 16 | Form 130 |
| Form 16A | Form 131 |
| Form 24Q (salary TDS return) | Form 138 |
Which One Applies to You Right Now?
For FY 2025-26, which is assessment year 2026-27, you still use Form 26AS, because that year’s income was earned under the old Act. Form 168 applies from FY 2026-27 onwards. The contents and purpose stay the same, so nothing you learn here becomes useless when the number changes.
What Form 26AS Actually Shows
Think of it as a tax passbook. It does not tell you how much you earned. What it shows is how much tax has reached the government under your PAN and who sent it.
That distinction matters. Your salary slip shows income and deductions. Form 26AS shows only the tax. So a salaried person needs both this statement and their Form 16. Form 26AS carries no breakup of exemptions or Chapter VI-A deductions.
The Ten Parts of Form 26AS
| Part | What it contains |
|---|---|
| Part I | TDS on salary, interest, professional income and similar payments |
| Part II | TDS not deducted because you filed Form 15G or 15H |
| Part III | TDS on payments made in kind, such as a prize or a sponsored trip |
| Part IV | TDS on sale of property, rent above the specified limit, contractor and professional payments, and virtual digital assets, where you are the seller or landlord |
| Part V | Transactions in virtual digital assets reported through Form 26QE, where you are the seller |
| Part VI | Tax collected at source (TCS) |
| Part VII | Refunds paid to you |
| Part VIII | TDS you deducted as a buyer or tenant, shown for your information |
| Part IX | Virtual digital asset transactions where you are the buyer |
| Part X | TDS and TCS defaults found after processing returns |
For most salaried readers, Part I and Part VII are the ones that matter. Part I should show the tax your employer deducted, quarter by quarter, while Part VII shows any refund you received.
How to Download Form 26AS?
The statement is free, and you get it through the income tax portal rather than directly from TRACES.
- Log in to the income tax e-filing portal with your PAN and password
- Go to e-File, then Income Tax Returns, then View Form 26AS
- Read the disclaimer, tick the box, and click Confirm, which takes you to the TRACES site
- Tick the box agreeing to the usage terms and click Proceed
- Click View Tax Credit (Form 26AS)
- Select the assessment year and choose HTML to view it on screen
- Click View / Download, then Export as PDF if you want a copy
You can also reach Form 26AS through net banking with several authorized banks, without logging in to the tax portal at all.
One Thing to Know about the Assessment Year
Form 26AS is filed by assessment year, not financial year. For income earned in FY 2025-26, select assessment year 2026-27. If you are unsure which is which, our note on the assessment year explains the difference in one line.
When does Form 26AS Get Updated?
Not instantly, and this causes most of the confusion.
Your employer deducts tax in, say, April and deposits it by 7 May. But the entry appears in your Form 26AS only after the employer files the quarterly TDS return and it is processed. Since the Q1 return is due on 31 July, tax deducted in April may not show until August.
| Quarter | TDS return due | Entry usually visible after |
|---|---|---|
| April to June | 31 July | Early August |
| July to September | 31 October | Early November |
| October to December | 31 January | Early February |
| January to March | 31 May | Early June |
So a gap between your salary slip and Form 26AS in the middle of a quarter is normal. A gap that survives well past the return deadline is not.
What to do if Your TDS is Missing
This is the single most common Form 26AS problem, and there are only three real causes.
Cause 1: The Return has Not been Filed Yet
Check the table above. If the deadline for that quarter has not passed, wait.
Cause 2: Your PAN is Wrong in the Employer’s Records
If the deductor filed the return with an incorrect PAN, the tax went to someone else’s account or to no one’s. That makes it the most common cause and the most fixable.
Cause 3: The Tax was Deducted but Never Deposited
Rare, but it happens. The deduction shows on your salary slip and nowhere else.
What Should You do, in Order?
Compare your Form 16 or salary slips with Part I, note the exact quarter and amount missing, then write to your employer’s payroll team with those details. They can check whether the PAN in the TDS return matches yours and, if not, file a correction statement. Corrections usually reflect within a few weeks of processing.
Do Not Simply Claim the Credit in Your Return Anyway.
You can only claim the tax credit that appears in your statement. Claiming more triggers a mismatch notice, and the burden of proof lands on you.
Form 26AS and AIS: What is the Difference?
The Annual Information Statement, or AIS, came later and goes wider. It reports things Form 26AS does not, such as share sales, dividends, interest income, and securities purchases.
| Form 26AS | AIS | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Tax deducted, collected, paid and refunded against your PAN | A broader record of financial transactions, including income the department knows about |
| Main use | Claiming tax credit in your return | Cross-checking the income you report |
| If the two disagree | Form 26AS prevails | Treated as supporting information |
| Password to open | None | PAN in lowercase, then date of birth as DDMMYYYY |
Use both. Form 26AS tells you what tax credit you may claim. AIS tells you what income the department already knows about, which is worth checking before you file.
Form 16, Form 16A and Form 26AS
These three get confused constantly, so here they are side by side.
| Form 16 | Form 16A | Form 26AS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | TDS certificate for salary | TDS certificate for non-salary income | Consolidated tax statement for your PAN |
| Who issues it | Your employer | The bank, client, or other deductor | The Income Tax Department |
| What it shows | Salary, exemptions, deductions, and tax deducted | Payment made and tax deducted | All tax is credited against your PAN |
The practical rule for a salaried person is that your Form 16 and Part I of Form 26AS should match. If they do not, one of them is wrong. Resolve it before you file rather than after a notice arrives.
Why this Matters to HR and Payroll Teams
Employees rarely raise a Form 26AS query with the tax department. They raise it with HR.
Every entry in Part I of an employee’s Form 26AS comes from the quarterly salary TDS return (Form 24Q) filed by their employer. A wrong PAN, a challan that did not reconcile, or a late return all have the same result. The employee’s credit goes missing, and the query lands on the payroll desk in June, right when everyone is filing.
Three habits prevent almost all of it:
- Validate PANs at onboarding, not at filing time. A wrong PAN in the master record becomes a wrong PAN in every return that year.
- Reconcile challans each quarter, before filing rather than after a default notice.
- File on time. A late return delays every employee’s credit, not just the company’s compliance record.
Running these from payroll data instead of a spreadsheet is what keeps them consistent. factoHR’s payroll software holds PAN, salary and challan records on one employee master and generates the quarterly return from it. What reaches the department then matches what payroll actually processed. For the wider picture, see the statutory compliance guide.
Conclusion
Form 26AS answers one question: how much tax has actually reached the government under your PAN. Check it before you file, match Part I against your Form 16, and give the quarterly cycle time to catch up before assuming something is wrong.
If an entry is genuinely missing after the return deadline has passed, the fix is with the deductor, not with the department. And from FY 2026-27, look for the same statement under its new name, Form 168.
FAQs on Form 26AS
What is Form 26AS?
Form 26AS is the annual tax credit statement issued by the Income Tax Department against your PAN. It records tax deducted at source, tax collected at source, advance tax and self-assessment tax paid, refunds received, and certain high-value transactions for a financial year.
How Can I Download Form 26AS?
Log in to the income tax e-filing portal, go to e-File, then Income Tax Returns, then View Form 26AS. You will be redirected to TRACES, where you select the assessment year and view or download the statement. Several banks also provide access through net banking.
Why is My TDS Not Showing in Form 26AS?
Usually because the deductor has not yet filed that quarter’s TDS return, or filed it with a wrong PAN. Less often, the tax was deducted but not deposited. Compare your salary slips with Part I, identify the quarter and amount, and raise it with the deductor so they can file a correction.
When is Form 26AS Updated?
After the deductor files the quarterly TDS return and it is processed. Returns are due on 31 July, 31 October, 31 January and 31 May. Tax deducted early in a quarter may take a few weeks after that deadline to appear.
What is the Difference between Form 26AS and AIS?
Form 26AS records tax paid against your PAN, while AIS reports a wider set of financial transactions, including share sales, dividends and interest. Where the two disagree, Form 26AS prevails for claiming tax credit.
Is Form 26AS Enough to File My Income Tax Return?
Not on its own for salaried taxpayers. Form 26AS shows only the tax, with no breakup of exemptions or Chapter VI-A deductions, so you also need your Form 16. Use the two together, and run the numbers through an income tax calculator before filing.
Is Form 26AS Being Replaced?
Yes, in name. Under the Income Tax Rules, 2026, the tax credit statement becomes Form 168 from FY 2026-27. For FY 2025-26, which is assessment year 2026-27, you still use Form 26AS. The structure and purpose remain unchanged.
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