What Should I Do If AIS Shows Incorrect Income?

I had a similar mismatch with bank interest. The amount in the AIS was different from the interest certificate I received from the bank.

I downloaded the AIS and checked the individual transaction instead of relying only on the total shown in TIS. Then I compared it with my bank statement and interest certificate.

If the entry is genuinely wrong, submit the AIS feedback and keep the acknowledgement. If the reporting institution confirms that it made an error, ask them to correct the information at their end as well.

I wouldn't simply ignore the AIS entry. At the same time, I also wouldn't add income to my ITR just because it appears in the AIS if my actual records show that the amount is incorrect. The return should contain the correct income based on the applicable tax rules and your supporting records.

First check where the amount came from instead of assuming that AIS itself has made the mistake.

For example, an incorrect entry could be related to bank interest, dividends, securities transactions, property transactions or information reported by an employer or another reporting entity.

If you identify the reporting source, contact them and ask them to verify the information. The Income Tax Department itself advises taxpayers to reconcile discrepancies with the employer, tax deductor or bank where applicable.

Also remember that AIS is not necessarily a complete statement of everything you earned. The Department says there may be transactions that are not currently displayed in AIS, and taxpayers are still responsible for reporting complete and accurate information in their ITR.

You can submit feedback directly against the incorrect transaction in AIS. The Income Tax Department allows taxpayers to provide online feedback on information reported under TDS/TCS, SFT, and other information.

When you open the relevant entry, there should be a feedback option. You can select the appropriate reason and submit your explanation.

After submitting feedback, AIS can show both the reported value and the modified value. You can also download the acknowledgement and check the activity history later.

I would keep your bank statements, Form 16/Form 16A, interest certificates, and any other supporting records handy before submitting the feedback.

One thing I learned is that AIS is an information statement, not necessarily a perfect statement of your final taxable income.

It can contain information received from different reporting entities, including SFT information, TDS/TCS information and other information. The Income Tax Department describes AIS as a comprehensive view of taxpayer information and says it is intended to help taxpayers review information before filing their return.

So if something looks wrong, I wouldn't panic.

But I also wouldn't simply ignore it.

If the information is genuinely incorrect, use the available AIS feedback facility and contact the source that reported the information. Keep supporting documents showing what actually happened.

Also check your TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary) because processed and derived values can be reflected there and may be relevant to pre-filling.

For an NRI, I'd be particularly careful with bank interest, dividends, capital gains and TDS because there can be multiple reporting sources.

I had something similar with a transaction that I didn't recognize.

Before submitting feedback, I contacted the institution that appeared to have reported the information. They confirmed that the PAN had been used incorrectly on their reporting record.

That was useful because the reporting entity ultimately needed to correct its information.

The Income Tax Department's AIS guidance specifically provides a feedback mechanism, but I wouldn't assume that submitting feedback means the original reporting entity's records have automatically been corrected. AIS can show the reported value and modified value after taxpayer feedback/source confirmation.

I'd therefore do two things at the same time:

1. Check your own records carefully.
2. Ask the bank, employer, mutual fund, broker or other reporting entity to investigate the entry.

Keep copies of everything.

If the amount is significant, I'd also have a tax professional review how it should be treated in the ITR rather than simply ignoring it because you believe AIS is incorrect.