Wednesday, July 17, 2013

What is Form 26AS

What is Form 26AS?
It is a form wherein all tax related (TDS, TCS, Refund etc..) information in relation to a PAN is published by the government of India. Remember that all information is mapped via the unique PAN Number of the individual / HUF or the organization. This is one sure shot way to know how much of your tax has been received by the government and is consolidated from multiple sources like your salary / pension / interest income etc..


What all is there in Form 26AS?
Following information is available in Form 26AS:
Part A
Tax Deducted at Source (TDS)
This section will show the TDS deducted from your salary / pension income and also TDS deducted by banks on your interest income. Income Tax TDS deducted by each source is shown as a separate table, and with all the details that you would ever want to know like the earning, date, tax etc., thus making it very convenient for you to track as well as keep a record for all TDS deducted in the entire financial year.

Part A1
Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) for 15G/15H
This section will show each matured transaction in those bank branches where the individual has submitted Form 15G / 15H. TDS in these cases would be zero (because you have submitted 15G/15H) but this section enables you to keep a track of all the interest gain which has not been taxed.

Part B
Tax Collected at Source (TCS)
If the person or the organization is collecting tax from the payer against sale of certain commodities, the same will be listed here. Tax Collected at Source is also paid to the government, and therefore is listed in this form.

Part C
Tax paid other than TDS or TCS
Any other tax that has been paid to the government other than TDS or TCS. If you have paid Advance Tax or Self Assessment Tax, this will be listed here, so that this Form 26AS remains one consolidated sheet for all your tax details.
Whenever you, as a tax payer, deposit your advance tax / self assessment tax directly to bank, the bank will upload this information to the TIN central system three days after the cheque has been cleared. This information will be posted here, in Part C of your Form 26AS

Part D
Tax Refund
Any tax refunds that have been paid to you in the given financial year are listed under this section.

Part E
AIR Details
If you make some high value transactions, such as investment in property and mutual funds, then these transactions are automatically reported to the income tax department by banks and other authorities through Annual Information Return (AIR) e.g. High value Transactions in respect of shares, mutual fund etc.

How is Form 26AS important to a deductor and tax payer?
The TDS / TCS deducted by a deductor is reflected in Form 26AS of the respective PAN and this helps in identifying any discrepancy / error. Although deductor cannot view Form 26AS for a PAN, they can view the TDS / TCS deducted / collected by them.

The credits available in the tax statement confirm that:
  • The tax deducted / collected by the Deductor / Collector has been deposited to the account of the government.
  • The Deductor / Collector has accurately filed the TDS / TCS return giving details of the tax deducted/collected on your behalf.
  • Bank has properly furnished the details of the tax deposited by you.

What is the future of Form 26AS?
In future, you will be able to use this consolidated tax statement (Form 26AS) as a proof of tax deducted / collected on your behalf and the tax directly paid by you along with your income tax return, after the need for submission of TDS / TCS certificates and tax payment challans along with income tax returns has been dispensed with by the Income Tax Department (ITD)

Are there any charges to view Form 26AS?
No, Form 26AS is provided as a free service by NSDL to all citizens with a registered PAN Number.

How can i view my Form 26AS?
Tax Credits Statement (Form 26AS) can be viewed/accessed through 3 ways :
1. From https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
Taxpayers who are registered at the above portal viz. https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in can view 26AS by clicking on 'View Tax Credit Statement (From 26AS)' in "My Account". The facility is available free of cost.

2. From bank site through net banking facility
The facility is available to a PAN holder having net banking account with any of authorized banks. View of Tax Credit Statement (Form 26AS) is available only if the PAN is mapped to that particular account. The facility is available for free of cost. Most of the nationalized banks (like Bank of Baroda, Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank, SBI etc...) are registered with NSDL to provide a view of Form 26AS to their customers.

3. From TRACES website
This facility is available to PANs that are registered with TRACES website for view of 26AS statement. The PAN holder has to Register as new user (as taxpayer) and then fill in the required details.An activation link and activation code will be sent to the registered e-mail ID and registered mobile number. After successful registration and login, the taxpayer will be able to view his 26AS statement free of cost in three modes i.e. HTML, PDF and Text format.
It is not only a good practice to keep a copy of your Form 26AS for each financial year but also, but also make sure that you understand the information given in the form. If there are any discrepancies you see between the information in Form 26AS and what the bank's Form 16 says, you must immediately point it out to the bank.

In the coming future, this form will gain more and more importance, and will be a source for automating your tax debits and credits. Let us make sure that we are ready for this inevitable change that technology is bringing.

Cheers


No comments:

Post a Comment