ITR Filing 2024: The Income Tax return filing season has started. Along with the tax filing procedure, salaried individuals and taxpayers are also planning their taxes, and investments for this financial year. Basically, every taxpayer aims to look for ways to reduce their tax liability in a given financial year.
Before filing income tax returns, the Income Tax Department is required to upload annual statements in new form 26AS containing the details of Tax Credits in the account of a taxpayer as per the records of the department. It is mandatory to prepare traces of Form 26AS under Rule 114I (Rule 31AB has been
omitted with effect from 1st June 2020) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
What is Form 26AS?
Form 26AS is the total summary of income, taxes deducted at source (TDS), taxes paid, and other related information of the individual or entity. Taxpayers can access Form 26AS by logging into their Income Tax Department account online.
The form is a summary of the following:
> Tax deducted on behalf of the Taxpayer
> Tax collected on behalf of the Taxpayer
> Advance Tax and Self-Assessment Tax deposited by Taxpayer
> Refund, if any, paid by Income Tax Department to the individual
> Tax demand by the Income Tax department
> Annual Information Return (AIR) for high-value financial transactions
> Form 26AS is the consolidated tax record by all deductors and collectors and is a guide for other authorities.
> Information related to high-value financial transactions, such as property, shares, mutual funds, etc.
> Information related to completed and pending proceedings.
The Income Tax Department stores taxpayers' total tax payments as tax credits in their accounts. Taxpayers can claim tax credits based on the information in their Form 26AS provided by the department.
How to View Form 26AS From TRACE?
Form 26AS can only be downloaded from the TRACES website. TRACES is TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System. If you have a TRACES login ID and password, you can log into your TRACES account and download Form 26AS directly from the website.
Or else, one can log into the income tax e-filing portal to download Form 26AS from TRACES.
> Visit the Income Tax e-filing portal and log into your Income Tax e-filing account using your registered user ID and password.
> On the landing page, click on the “e-File” link at the top of the page.
> Go to the “Income Tax Return” menu under e-File, then click on “View Form 26AS”.
> Click on “Confirm” to get redirected to the TRACES website and agree to the terms and conditions for using the website.
> Choose “View Tax Credit (Form 26AS/Annual Tax Statement).”
> Choose the assessment year and file type (HTML or Text) you prefer. If you want to view all TDS transactions, then select “HTML” and click on “View/Download.”
> After this, you can see all your TDS transactions, and click on “Export as PDF” to download the form.
Who needs to download to Form 26AS?
Anyone with a PAN card who received certain types of income during a financial year must file Form 26AS. This will include, salaried individuals, pensioners, investors receiving interest on fixed deposits or savings accounts, rent receivers, those involved in capital gains transactions, dividend earners, and any other source where tax has been deducted at source (TDS) by the taxpayer.
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