Form 26AS Explained: A Must-Have For Hassle-Free ITR Filing

Last Updated:July 18, 2025, 16:36 IST

A critical financial tool that summarises all the tax deducted on behalf of the taxpayer, the Form 26AS can be downloaded from the Income Tax Department’s official website.

Form 26AS is a consolidated Annual Information Statement for a particular financial year from the income tax department, mentioning the tax deducted on behalf of the taxpayer. Form 26AS is a critical exemption tool, helping individuals save their net income by providing a detailed account of their tax assessment. This statement helps cross-verify the deductions and refunds due to a salaried individual when they file for the ITR, summarising various details.

Apart from the Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and Tax Collected at Source (TCS), the Form 26AS also contains advance tax/self-assessment tax/regular assessment tax deposited, the refund received during a financial year (if any), details of any Specified Financial Transactions (SFT) (if any), details of tax deducted on sale of immovable property u/s194IA (in case of seller of such property). The form also provides details of any defaults made on TDS, while featuring information related to the demand and refund and details of pending and completed proceedings.

Salaried employees check their Form 26AS to verify that the TDS deducted by their employer is correctly deposited and confirm advance or self-assessment tax payments. It helps match the income sources and prevent any tax notice. One can also avoid refund delays that may be caused by the tax credit mismatches. Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can download the Form 26AS:

Step 1: Visit the official website of the Income Tax Department (https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/)

Step 2: Log in to the site’s e-filing portal

Step 3: Navigate to the ‘e-file’, followed by the Income Tax Returns and click on View Form 26AS

Step 4: Go through the disclaimer. Once you click confirm, you will be redirected to the TDS-CPC Portal.

Step 5: Once you enter the TDS-CPC Portal, agree to the acceptance of usage and click ‘proceed’

Step 6: Click on View Tax Credit (Form 26AS)

Step 7: Select the ‘Assessment Year’ and ‘View Type’, which could be HTML or text.

Step 8: Finally, click on View/Download

If your Form 26AS download file is password protected, use your registered date of birth or date of incorporation printed on the Permanent Account Number (PAN) card to open it. The DOB password is to be typed in ddmmyyyy format. If an individual was born on 28th November, 1996, the password will be 28111996.

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