All you need to know about New Form 26AS | Annual Information Statement

Form 26AS or Annual Information Statement is a consolidated statement that contains details of your income – salary, business income, interest on your bank deposits, etc., as well as the total tax deducted (if any) on such incomes and deposited in your name with the Income Tax Department.

TDS deductions that are given in your Form 16 / Form 16A can be cross checked using Form 26AS. The TDS amounts reflected in Form 26AS and Form 16/16A should always match.

Your high value financial transactions are also listed in Form 26AS under AIR section of the report. (AIR – Annual Information Return)

Hence, Form 26AS is an important income tax document for every tax payer. You should check it before filing your Income Tax Return.

New Form 26AS | New Format w.e.f 1st June 2020

The Central Govt has recently notified the changes to Form 26AS. Your tax passbook, i.e., Form 26AS, will now come with a new format, effective from 1st June, 2020 (FY 2020-21).

Form 26AS will now contain information regarding Tax refunds and demands (if any) against your name. The new format will show your Aadhaar number, date of birth, mobile number, email ID and your address.

Form 26AS will also have information about ‘Specified Financial Transactions‘ such as Stocks you have bought or sold, real estate transactions, payment details of credit card bills etc.

You can view / download the new Form 26AS format by clicking on the below image.

Along with your TDS details, you can now find below details in the new Form 26AS statement;

Information related to Specified Financial Transactions

The revised Form 26AS will show the specified financial transactions which have been done from June 1, 2020. However, these transactions will be shown only if they cross the specified threshold limit in a financial year.

For example : If your investments in Mutual Funds exceeds Rs 10 lakh in a financial year then such transactions will be shown in Form26AS.

List of Third parties who report High value Financial Transactions

• Banks – They report High Value transactions related to deposits credit card payments.
• Mutual Fund Companies
• Companies issuing bonds or debentures
• Companies issuing shares
• Sub-Registrar offices on real-estate deals.

Cash Transactions listed under Specified Financial Transactions

• Purchase of bank drafts or pay orders in cash – amount aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year.
• Cash deposit in current account, Rs 50 lakh or more in a financial year.
• Cash Withdrawals in current account, Rs 50 lakh or more in a financial year.
• Purchase of pre-paid instruments in cash – amount aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year.
• Cash deposit in account other than current account aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year
• Cash payment for goods and services – Receipt of cash payment exceeding Rs 2 lakh for sale.

Credit Card Transactions

Your credit card payments of;

• One lakh rupees or more in cash; or
• Ten lakh rupees or more by any other mode

Investments listed under Specified Financial Transactions

• Time deposit aggregating to Rs 10 lakh (other than a time deposit made through renewal of another time deposit).
• Purchase of debentures aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year.
• Purchase of shares amount aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year.
• Buy back of shares amount or value aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year.
• Purchase of mutual fund units – amount aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year.
• Purchase of foreign currency – amount aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more during a financial year.
• Sale or Purchase of immovable property – an amount of Rs 30 lakh or more or valued by the stamp valuation authority.

Newly Proposed Transactions under SFT & Form 26AS

The below newly proposed transactions (on 13-Aug-2020) would now be reflected in an individual’s tax account statement;

• The payments made to the government such as property tax and electricity bills would be reported if they exceed Rs 20,000 and Rs 1 lakh, respectively. 
• Business-class airline travel, whether domestic or foreign, would be reported.
• Deposit / credits in current account above Rs 50 lakh.
• Deposit / credits in non-current account above Rs 25 lakh.
• Information on Share transactions, your D-Mat accounts and bank lockers.
• Payments for school fee / donation above Rs 1 lakh would be reported.
• If you pay a hotel bill or medical insurance premium of more than Rs 20,000, incur an expenditure exceeding Rs 50,000 on life insurance or over Rs 1 lakh for school fee, purchase white goods, jewellery, marble or paintings, do note that the entity you have made the payment to will be informing the government of your transaction.

Information related to Income Tax Payments

Your new Form 26AS will now give you the details of ‘outstanding tax demand’ or ‘income tax refund’ (if any).

You can also check the status of any income tax proceedings. The revised Form 26 AS will show if there are any ‘pending proceedings’ that are on-going with the income tax department or if the proceedings are completed. 

How to download new Form 26AS?

To access your Form 26 AS, you need to visit Income Tax website and click on View Form 26AS. You need to provide your login credentials to access this form. You can then download relevant financial year’s statement.

Kindly note that your ‘Tax Passbook’ in new form is available from FY 2020-21 / AY 2021-22.

Continue reading:

• Understanding your Form 16 & other Tax related forms
• Income Tax Deductions List FY 2020-21 | New Vs Old Tax Regime AY 2021-22
• How Income Tax Department tracks the High Value Financial Transactions?

(Post published on : 29-June-2020)