How to Download Form 16, 26AS and AIS: Income Tax Portal

Before we get into the downloads, here's what each document actually is:

Here's how I think about it. Form 16 is what your employer says you earned. Form 26AS is what the government says was taxed. AIS is the government telling you everything it knows about your finances. All three should match before you file your return.

This is the most common confusion I see. Form 16 is issued by your employer, not the Income Tax Department. You can't just log in to the Income Tax portal and download it like Form 26AS. Form 16 has two parts:

• Part A - TDS details generated from the TRACES portal (it has a TRACES watermark)
• Part B - Salary breakup and deductions, prepared by your employer

• Check your HR or payroll portal. Most companies put it on the employee self-service portal
• Email your HR or payroll team directly
• Check your company email - many employers send it by June 15

• Your previous employer is still legally required to issue Form 16. Email them and follow up if needed
• They face a penalty of Rs 100 per day for delay beyond June 15 (Section 272A(2)(g)). Source: Income Tax Act

• Collect Form 16 from each employer separately
• You'll need all of them when you file your ITR

If you handle payroll or work as a CA, here's how you generate Form 16:

1. Go to tdscpc.gov.in

1. Log in using your TAN and password

1. Click Downloads then select Form 16

1. Choose Search PAN Download (for specific employees) or Bulk PAN Download (for all)

1. Select the financial year

1. Verify the employee PAN and TDS details

1. Enter the TDS receipt number and total tax deducted

1. Submit the request. Form 16 will be available within 24-48 hours

1. Download the zip file and use the TRACES PDF Generation Utility to convert it

1. Sign digitally or manually and share with employees

Form 16 PDFs are usually password-protected. The most common format is the first 5 letters of your PAN (uppercase) followed by your date of birth in DDMMYYYY format (e.g., ABCDE15031985). Some employers may use a different password - check the email from HR.

Under the Income-tax Rules, 2026, Form 16 has been renumbered Form 130 from Tax Year 2026-27 onwards (the certificate under Section 395 of the Income-tax Act, 2025). For FY 2025-26 and earlier years though, it's still Form 16. Source: Forms FAQ, incometaxindia.gov.in.

Form 26AS is your tax credit statement. Before filing your ITR, you must check this document to make sure all the TDS deducted from your income has actually reached the government. This is where most mismatches happen. One heads-up: from Tax Year 2026-27, Form 26AS is renumbered Form 168 under the Income-tax Rules, 2026 — for FY 2025-26 and earlier it is still Form 26AS.

1. Go to incometax.gov.in

1. Log in using your PAN as User ID

1. Click e-File > Income Tax Returns > View Form 26AS

1. Read the disclaimer and click Confirm

1. You'll be redirected to the TRACES portal

1. Click View Tax Credit (Form 26AS)

1. Select the Assessment Year. For FY 2025-26, that's AY 2026-27

1. Pick HTML to view on screen, PDF to download, or Text

1. Click View or Download

Don't feel like logging into the Income Tax portal? You can download Form 26AS through your bank's net banking.

1. Log in to your net banking account

1. Look for Tax Services or Income Tax e-Filing

1. Click View Form 26AS or Tax Credit Statement

1. Select the assessment year

1. View or download

This works with most major banks - SBI, HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, PNB, Kotak, and others, provided your PAN is linked to the account.

1. Visit tdscpc.gov.in

1. Click Login and pick Taxpayer

1. Enter your PAN and password

1. Select View Tax Credit (Form 26AS)

1. Choose assessment year and format

1. View or download

From AY 2023-24 onwards, Form 26AS displays only TDS/TCS-related data. Details like advance tax, self-assessment tax, SFT transactions, and refunds have moved to AIS. The main sections now cover TDS (salary and non-salary), TCS, and TDS/TCS defaults.

AIS is the most detailed of the three. It shows the Income Tax Department's complete view of your financial transactions. If you want to avoid tax notices, this is the document you must check before filing.

1. Go to incometax.gov.in and log in with your PAN

1. Click Services > Annual Information Statement (AIS) - or - e-File > Income Tax Returns > View AIS

1. Click Proceed on the pop-up. This takes you to the AIS Compliance Portal

1. You'll see two tiles:

• AIS - Detailed statement with every transaction
• TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary) - A simplified version used for ITR pre-fill

1. Select the correct Financial Year (FY 2025-26 for AY 2026-27)

1. Click the AIS tile to see the details

1. Hit the Download icon and pick your format:

• PDF for reading and reference
• JSON for the AIS Offline Utility
• CSV for individual transaction categories

1. The download begins

The Income Tax Department has an app called "AIS for Taxpayer" on both iOS and Android.

1. Download the app from App Store or Play Store

1. Register with your PAN

1. Log in

1. Go to the AIS section

1. Pick the financial year

1. View or download

If you have a lot of transactions and want to submit feedback offline:

1. Log in to the Income Tax portal and navigate to AIS

1. Click Resources > Utility section

1. Download the AIS Offline Utility and extract it

1. Go back to the AIS homepage, click the AIS tile, and download the JSON file

1. Open the utility and import the JSON file

1. Review and submit feedback on anything that looks wrong

AIS covers over 57 data categories including:

• Salary and TDS
• Interest from savings accounts, FDs, and other sources
• Dividend income
• Mutual fund and stock transactions
• Property purchases and sales
• Foreign remittances
• GST turnover
• High-value transactions reported under SFT

If any of these don't match what you show in your ITR, the system will flag it. Checking your AIS before filing is not optional anymore. Source: Income Tax Department, AIS FAQs.

Unlike Form 26AS, AIS lets you give feedback on incorrect entries. If you see a transaction that's not yours:

1. Click on the transaction

1. Pick the right feedback option:

• Information is not fully correct
• Information relates to another person or year
• Information is duplicate
• Information is already considered

1. Submit it

1. The system updates your TIS accordingly

1. Get your Form 16 from your employer first

1. Download Form 26AS from the Income Tax portal

1. Download AIS from the Income Tax portal

1. Reconcile all three. The salary shown, the TDS deducted, and the financial transactions should match across all documents

1. Report any discrepancies in AIS using the feedback option

1. Talk to your employer if Form 16 doesn't match Form 26AS

Skipping this step is the number one reason people get 143(1)(a) notices months later. Nobody wants to deal with a tax notice in September when they thought they were done for the year.

Downloading your tax documents doesn't have to be a headache. Form 16 comes from your employer. Form 26AS and AIS are available on the Income Tax portal in a few clicks. The real work isn't downloading them though - it's making sure all three tell the same story before you file. Take 30 minutes. Download all three. Compare them. Fix any mismatches. That half hour could save you months of tax notice anxiety later.

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This is for educational purposes only. Consult a qualified Chartered Accountant or financial advisor for personalized advice.