Every tax season, many salaried individuals come across a line item or figure that just doesn’t seem to add up. A common issue taxpayers face is a mismatch between what's reported in the Annual Information Statement (AIS) and their own calculations of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) or interest income.
While it’s tempting to simply hit ‘submit’ on that pre-filled income tax return (ITR) form and move on, overlooking even a small discrepancy can cause trouble later, such as delayed refunds, unwanted scrutiny, or worse, incorrect tax demands.
Chartered Accountant Shefali Mundra, a tax expert at ClearTax, says this issue is more common than most people realise. “Discrepancies in TDS, especially missing or incorrect deductions, and errors in interest income from fixed deposits or savings accounts come up often,” she explains.
How can you correct such discrepancies?
First, don’t panic. Download your Form 26AS and AIS from the Income Tax portal and compare them carefully with your Form 16, 16A, and bank records
Many taxpayers mistakenly assume that AIS and Form 26AS serve the same purpose. In reality, they cover different types of information.
Form 26AS captures TDS, TCS, and certain high-value transactions.
AIS, however, goes further. It includes details such as interest from bank accounts, dividends, mutual fund redemptions, share trades, and even foreign remittances.
So, if you’re only looking at Form 26AS, you’re missing half the picture.
Another trap? Blindly trusting pre-filled ITR data. The portal does attempt to auto-populate entries from AIS, but mistakes still happen.
“If the AIS shows an interest income amount that seems off, or includes a TDS entry from an unfamiliar deductor, don’t ignore it. Submit feedback through the AIS portal and flag the issue with reasons like ‘amount incorrect’, ‘not related to me’, or ‘Duplicate’. You can even upload proof if needed,” Mundra adds.
However, it doesn’t just end here. You also need to contact the source of the mismatch, whether it is your employer, bank, or mutual fund house, and ask them to file a corrected TDS return.
That correction eventually updates Form 26AS, which determines your TDS credit.
What if you have already filed your ITR?
Even if you have already filed your return and then notice a discrepancy, it is not too late. Section 139(5) allows you to revise your return. And if the issue crops up after filing because of a mismatch notice, you may still get a chance to clarify it under Sections 139(9) or 143(1).
The goal, of course, is to avoid reaching this point in the first place. Here’s what you should keep in mind before filing your ITR:
Your PAN should be correctly linked to your Aadhaar and across all banks, employers, and investment platforms.
Make sure to submit Form 15G/15H if you are eligible and want to avoid TDS on interest
And most importantly, reconcile all income records with your AIS before filing.
A few rupees of missed interest income may not seem like a big deal, but the tax department sees the full digital trail, and their systems will flag the mismatch. Fixing it after filing is possible, but ideally, it should never come to that.
