Errors and corrections in Form 26AS of Income Tax Act?

The last date of filing an income tax return has just now passed and by now most salaried individuals would have received their Form 16 from their employer and have submitted it. Form 16 has all the details of tax deducted at source (TDS) by the employer. Hence it is very important to check their Form 26AS. This form shows the statement showing TDS details from various other deductors. It is important ad mandatory to check Form 26AS for any errors. This article helps you know how to get your errors rectified for the income tax return process to be smooth. (Correction in Form 26AS).

What is a TDS certificate?

Every organization that deducts TDS issues a certificate to the deductee with all the details also including the amount that will be deducted. The figures present in the TDS certificates should match with those shown in your Form 26AS. If it doesn’t match it may give rise to inquiries from the income tax department. Hence, you must check Form 26AS to reconcile figures with the TDS certificates.

Errors one may face in Form 26AS

One should properly check their Form 26AS before filing their ITR as it helps to rectify your errors. The error could be caused by various reasons like non-filing of TDS return by the deductor or non-payment of TDS by the deductor, quoting wrong assessment year or wrong PAN, providing incorrect challan details in the TDS returns submitted by the deductee, or not depositing TDS to the Income Tax Department. It sometimes also happens the TDS is deducted but not deposited in favour of the co-owner in case of joint ownership. Such errors could also lead to under or over-reporting of income or taxes in Form 26AS, which can lead to an inquiry being raised by the IT department.

At times, a mismatch occurs between the figures that are shown in the TDS certificates and with one’s Form 26AS. If you are a salaried individual, first check the TDS certificate that your employer would have provided to you as Form 16. The reason for mismatch could be anything like non-filing of TDS Return by the person deducting TDS as a result of which the TDS does not reflect properly in Form 26AS. Thereby quoting the wrong TAN of deductor or wrong PAN of the deductee.

How to get errors rectified and check the authenticity of Form 26AS?

The following errors found on your form can be rectified as follows:

• An incorrect entry especially regarding your PAN or an amount may lead to unnecessary delays in filing the ITR. This is why one needs to get them rectified before filing to avoid future problems. The solution for rectifying the mismatch lies in requesting the deductor to reconcile the same. You will also have to request the deductor to revise the TDS return.
• If a banker or any other tax deductor is issuing you the Form 26AS, be sure to first check its authenticity. Such a document in plain paper or the letterhead of the bank may not be proper for use. The Circulars of Central Board of Direct Taxes state that it is mandatory for all deductors including a banking company to issue TDS certificates after generating and downloading the same from TRACES Portal.
• Certificates that are issued in any other form or manner will not comply with the requirements referred in the Income-tax Act 1961 and thus be invalid. Only the TDS certificates (Form 16/16A) which are downloaded from TRACES are valid.

Conclusion

Finally, once all the details have been rectified the revised TDS gets uploaded and the revised figures are reflected in Form 26AS, only then can you file for the return. You may sometimes have to wait a little longer for this. Note that it does take some time for the person who has deducted your TDS to file a revised TDS return. Even after uploading the Revised TDS Return, Form 26AS does not get updated instantly.

TDS certificates in Form 16 and Form 16A are very important and it is essential to compare the entries in Form 26AS with those that are present in your TDS certificates. This helps to make sure you are claiming the right credits and also offering all your income appearing in Form 26AS to tax.

Suggested Read: GST Returns will reflect in your Income Tax Passbook (Form 26AS)