Making income tax return processing and assessment simpler and more effective, the income tax department on Thursday has revamped Form 26AS to an ‘Annual Information Statement’ to include real estate and share trading related transactions.
Form 26AS is an annual consolidated credit statement issued by the income tax to help assessees cross-verify income earned, tax deducted at source (TDS), and tax deposited during a given financial year.
In its new avatar, the form will now contain comprehensive information relating to specified financial transactions, payment of taxes, demand/ refund, and pending/completed proceedings undertaken by a taxpayer in a particular financial year that has to be mentioned in the income tax returns (ITR).
The income tax department said the new form, which was announced in the Budget, will come into effect from June 1. Taxpayers would then be able to access the consolidated statement from the income tax department’s e-filing portal using their PAN card.
The new Form 26AS or ‘Annual Information Statement’ will have comprehensive information on taxes paid by you, details of pending and completed income tax proceedings, the status of income tax demand, and refund along with details of specified financial transactions like purchase of shares or property.
The move would simplify the ITR filing process as most of the related details would be fetched from this form. The taxman will also be able to verify details given in the ITR and process the return quickly.
“With all the information/ details available at one place, it will also assist tax authorities doing e-assessment and having no/ limited interaction with taxpayers, as tax authorities will be able to easily compare the information available in Form 26AS vis-a-vis information reported by a taxpayer in ITR and any mismatch may be easily flagged by the systems to tax authorities,” Nangia Andersen Consulting Chairman Rakesh Nangia said.
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