ITR Filing: Is your AIS form showing the wrong interest received in your bank account? Here’s what you can do in such a situation

Filing your Income Tax Return (ITR) form is an important annual activity and ensuring that all necessary information from your Annual Information Statement (AIS) is correctly reported is crucial. But what if your AIS is not reflecting all the interest you have received from your savings bank account or there's a discrepancy between the data in your AIS and your personal records? As the ITR filing deadline ends tody (July 31), here's a guide on how to handle such situations.

Getting to grips with the Annual Information Statement (AIS)

Acting as a detailed account of a taxpayer's financial transactions for the fiscal year, the AIS includes essential data such as TDS/TCS specifics, dividends, interest, along with stock market and mutual fund transactions. The AIS gives a comprehensive overview of your income and deductions over the year, facilitating a seamless ITR filing process. Though errors can sometimes sneak into your AIS, resulting in discrepancies. 

Spotting and rectifying AIS discrepancies 

Before launching into your ITR filing, it's crucial to check and verify your AIS's accuracy. This can be accomplished by comparing your AIS with other financial records like your bank statements, Form 16, or Form 26AS. 

If you spot an error you can submit an online feedback form to the Income Tax Department for rectification. On the Income Tax e-filing portal, head to the 'Annual Information Statement' tab under the 'Services' section, selecting the relevant fiscal year, and providing your feedback. If you are dealing with more significant errors, such as issues with the Intimation issued under Section 143(1) or an order under Section 154 by the Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) or Assessing Officer, a rectification request can be lodged on the e-filing portal.

Reporting unaccounted income

If certain income isn't reflected in your AIS, it's essential to cross-check this with your income as reported in your financial certificates. Any income that hasn't been accounted for should be included in your ITR form. This ensures the Income Tax Department has a complete record of your financial transactions. On the other hand, sometimes your AIS might reflect a higher income than what you've actually earned.

These errors need to be identified and rectified to prevent unnecessary income tax notices. Providing feedback for AIS data correction is necessary in these cases, and your ITR should be filed based on the accurate interest amount as per your bank statement. If a bank error has caused the discrepancy, it's important to notify them to obtain the correct income figure. Conversely, if it turns out that the AIS was accurate, your ITR should be revised with the accurate information to prevent any potential income tax notices.

Remember, leaving an AIS error unresolved and proceeding with your ITR filing could lead the Income Tax Department to assume the information they have is accurate, which might result in a tax notice. If you have sufficient documentation to support the transaction mentioned in the AIS, you should rely on it and provide feedback for correction as necessary.