Form 16, Form 26AS and AIS do not match? Here is which one to trust

What the three documents are

Form 26AS is the ledger of tax paid in your name. AIS is the ledger of income the department thinks you earned. The return has to reconcile with both.

Mismatch 1: Form 16 shows TDS that Form 26AS does not

This means the employer deducted tax from your salary but has not deposited it, has not filed the quarterly TDS return, or filed it with a wrong PAN. The department gives credit only for what is in Form 26AS, so you cannot claim the missing amount on the strength of Form 16 alone. Ask the employer, in writing, to deposit the tax or file a correction statement. Once it appears in 26AS, file. If the employer will not act, the law still protects you, but it becomes a dispute, not a filing.

Mismatch 2: AIS shows income that is not in Form 16

Savings and fixed deposit interest, dividends, a mutual fund redemption, a few months of salary from a previous employer. None of this is in Form 16, all of it is in AIS, and all of it is yours to report. Salaried filers who copy only Form 16 into the return are the single biggest source of Section 143(1) adjustments we see.

Mismatch 3: AIS is wrong, or shows the same thing twice

AIS is built from what banks, registrars and companies report, and they make mistakes. Common ones: interest on a joint account shown in full to both holders, a property bought jointly shown at the full value against each buyer, and a mutual fund switch shown as a fresh purchase and a sale.

Do not simply copy these in, and do not ignore them. Open the entry in AIS and submit feedback: information is not fully correct, relates to another PAN or year, is a duplicate, or is denied. Your corrected figure then shows beside the reported one in the Taxpayer Information Summary, and the return is filed on your figure. Keep the bank statement or deed that proves it.

Mismatch 4, which is not a mismatch

AIS salary is often higher than the taxable salary in Form 16. AIS shows the gross figure from the employer's TDS return, before HRA and other exemptions. Nothing is wrong. Report the taxable salary from Form 16 Part B.

The timing trap

TDS on March salary is deposited in April and reaches Form 26AS only after the employer's last quarterly return, due 31 May, is processed. Checking 26AS in April and panicking is a yearly ritual for no reason. Reconcile in the second half of June, when Form 16 and 26AS should both be complete.

Already filed with a mismatch?

You will receive a notice proposing an adjustment under Section 143(1)(a), which gives you 30 days to agree or explain on the portal. Or, if you spot it yourself, file a revised return before 31 December 2026. Both are routine. Our article on Section 143(1) notices explains what the intimation means.

What we do

Before we file any return, we lay Form 16, Form 26AS and AIS side by side, list every difference, submit AIS feedback where the department's data is wrong, and chase the employer where the TDS is missing. If you have already received a 143(1) notice, send it to us and we will tell you within a day whether to agree, explain or revise.

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