The revised Form 26AS, by income tax department has been notified. This comes into effect from 1st June 2020. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget 2020 speech proposed a new Section 285BB wherein the tax department is to provide a comprehensive annual information statement for the financial transactions done by a taxpayer in a particular financial year and that needs to form part of the ITR.
Form 26AS is a unique tax credit statement for each PAN. It contains details of tax deducted, tax collected, advance tax paid, self-assessment tax, regular self-assessment tax paid for that PAN number. This form can be downloaded through your login into TRACES website or net banking facility of authorized banks.
At the time of filing ITR, assesses are expected to ensure that the details mentioned in Form 16/form 16A and Form 26AS match otherwise it will lead to delay in processing of ITR.
Changes in Form 26AS:
Basis the latest changes, Form 26AS has been overhauled to an ‘Annual Information Statement’ which in addition to the TDS/TCS details, will now contain comprehensive information about specified financial transactions, payment of taxes, demand/ refund and pending/completed proceedings undertaken by a taxpayer in a particular financial year which are to be mentioned in the income tax returns.
The overhauled Form 26AS will come into effect from June 1.
Benefits of changes in Form 26AS:
The statement will make the ITR filing simpler as maximum details will be available at one place. This will include financial information such as sale or purchase of immovable property and shares in possession and other transactions which will help tax authorities to compare the information between 26AS and what is filed by the taxpayer. From June 1, mutual fund houses, depositories and banks will have to provide details of transactions done against a PAN in a financial year.
With all the information/details available at one place, tax authorities will be able to perform e-assessment quicker than ever.
This will also help assesses take timely corrective actions to report and incorrect information, which might be reported in the form 26AS.
How to download
To download this form, visit the link https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/home. Click on the “View Form 26AS (Tax Credit)” tab on the left side of the home page. This will take you to view/download Form 26AS
The author of this article is finance professional with 20+ years of experience. If you need to reach out, do write us back at support@growiseadvisors.com