Form 26AS is the acknowledgement of receipt of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), It shows the deducted amount which is the credit available against the Income Tax liability of the deductee. The deductee can download Form 26AS from TRACES website or directly from their income tax filing account on the Income Tax department’s e-filing website https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in or from the Net banking facility of the authorised banks.
After filing of TDS return by the deductor a credit of the deducted amount will get reflected in the deductee’s Form 26AS since the deductor had given the details like the amount payable, the tax deducted, the PAN number, name and other details in the TDS returns.
The deductor will issue a TDS certificate to the deductee after filing TDS return. The deductee must compare the amount in the issued Form 16 with the amount in Form 26AS. In case of mismatch the deductee has to inform the deductor who in turn takes corrective actions. It has been observed that the most common reason for the incorrect credit reflected in Form 26AS is that the deductor has either not mentioned the PAN number or has mentioned incorrect PAN number in TDS return.
When the revised TDS return is filed by the deductor after making corrections, the credit gets reflected in Form 26AS in sometime. It’s a good practice to check Form 26AS and compare it with Form 16 before filing the income tax return. It may be noted that credit of Tax is based on Form 26AS and not the TDS Certificate.
Excellent Article and covers almost every single point related to TDS…Keep up the good work.