Form 26AS: Navigating the Download Process via TRACES

Written by : Knowledge Centre Team

2021-12-07

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Form 26 is an important annual tax-credit statement. This form contains the details of all TDS deductions from your income in the previous year. This document becomes handy when you file your income tax returns. It is a document that contains various tax-related information such as the following:

Tax deducted on the income earned by you
Advance tax paid
Tax paid by self-assessment
Tax refunds received by you

You can only access the tax credit statement with a valid PAN card. From June 2020, 26AS also includes information regarding specified financial transactions.

What is Form 26AS?

Form 26AS is a statement that fulfils the following purposes:

A document that maintains the record of the tax that you have paid while filing your Income Tax Returns.
It acts a proof that TDS has been deducted and collected.
Acts as a confirmation that the government has received the taxes.
Helps you to match and verify actual transactions with the ones recorded.

What is TRACES and How to Access it?

TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System or TRACES is an online portal established by the Income Tax Department. TRACES help both the tax deductors and tax-payers. By registering on this website, you can view the taxes paid and also reconcile them.

Forms 16, 16A and 26AS can be downloaded easily from this website.

Why do you Need to Download Form 26AS?

You need to download Form 26AS as it is a consolidated statement that shows you information about TDS and TCS and also about the settlement of refunds. This one form thus helps you identify various details regarding your income-tax and supports you in filing returns.

The Form 26AS can be downloaded in three ways. These are:

Through TRACES
Through net banking
Through Income Tax e-filing

How to Download Form 26AS From Traces?

Download Form 26AS by performing the following steps:

1. Make sure you are registered as a user. If not, visit the site- https://eportal.incometax.gov.in/iec/foservices/#/login. Click on the register button. This is located in the top-right corner of the website.

2. In the registration menu, enter your PAN number and move forward. Will the application and secure your account? If you are already registered you can skip this step.

3. In the login screen, enter your login details. This will be your PAN, AADHAR, or any other ID you used at the time of registration. Click on continue.

4. Check the box that says, ‘please confirm your secure access message’. You can create your message to be more secure. This can be done via visiting the profile section.

5. Enter your password

6. Click on the dropdown of the section, ‘file. In the drop-down list click Income tax returns view form 26AS. After confirming you are redirected to the TRACES website.

7. Click on the View Tax Credit Traces link. This will be given at the end of the page.

8. Your Form 26AS window appears.

9. Enter the details asked. These are the following

Assessment year
PAN card details
Your name and address

Enter the verification code that is shown on your screen to verify and click on download. The form will be viewed as a PDF.

Components of Form 26AS

The comprehensive form contains seven parts, these are named from A to G.

Part A: Details of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS)

This section shows the tax deducted by various entities that are eligible on your salary, interest earned, etc.
Information such as the name of the deductor, TAN number, Total deducted tax is provided.
This detail is provided once every 3 months.

This part is further divided into 2 sections: Part A1, Part A2:

Part A1- TDS Details for Form 15G and 15H

Both these forms are used to provide self-declaration which requests the bank to not deduct TDS as the income falls below the exemption.

You need to fill form 15G if your age is below 60. While if you are above the age of 60, you need to fill form 15H.

Thus, this section includes details where no TDS is deducted.

Learn the difference between 15G and 15H.

Part A2- TDS Details on the Sale of Immovable Property

If you have sold an immovable property such as land, in the previous year and the tax has been deducted on it, then it will show in this section.

Part B: Details regarding Tax Collected at Source (TCS)

Part B focuses on the tax collected at the source by the seller of goods.
TCS is the tax that a seller collects on the sale of his goods to the buyer. The seller collects this tax from the buyer and pays it to the government.
Information like the Name and TAN of the collector, total tax collected are shown in Part B.

Part C: Details of Tax Paid

This section shows the details of all the taxes paid which fall in neither in Part A or B above. That is, taxes other than TDS and TCS are shown here.
These can be advance taxes paid, self-assessment taxes. Challan details
Details such as the amount of tax, serial number, the date on which tax was paid are shown

Part D: Details of Paid Refund

1) If you are eligible for any refund of income tax, then details of this can be seen in this section.

2) These details include the following

Assessment year
Mode of refund
Amount to be refunded
Date of refund

Part E: Details of AIR Transaction

1) This section is concerned with AIR- Annual Information Return transactions.

2) If you have taken part in high-value transactions such as high-value mutual funds, properties, etc, this will be shown here

3) This includes the following details about AIR transactions

a. Type, name of the transaction
b. The date on which the transaction occurred
c. Parties involved
d. Amount and mode of payment

Part F: Details of TDS on Sale of Immovable Property

This section is applicable in case you buy an immovable property such as land or a building.
If you buy a property, you have to deduct TDS on it, details of this deduction are provided in this section
This is governed by section 194IA
Details such as name, date, and amount of the transaction are mentioned

Part G: Defaults in TDS

1) This is the final section of the form which includes any defaults that occur during the processing of the statement.

2) Various heads in this section are:

Details of short payment, short deduction
TDS payments default
Total default

Form 26AS is a ledger record of all TDS transactions and any taxes paid throughout the financial year. You should check your Form 26AS regularly to keep an eye on the TDS updates.

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