What is Form 26AS & how to view it online ?

Form 26AS is a consolidated statement which reflects all the advance tax paid by you personally or through TDS/TCS way. The best part about it is that you can view it online by just quoting your PAN Number. You can view your Form 26AS online or download it in PDF or Excel format, but for that you need to register on the income tax website.

Why do we need Form 26AS ?

We all check our bank accounts when some one deposits money into it . Once we see that the amount is matching, we feel at peace and confirmed that there is no issue . Now in the same way through out the year, we might pay the tax in parts . It can be in form of Advance tax cut by our companies, TDS cut by the bank on your fixed deposits , TDS cut by some third party who is making payment to us . They all pay this tax on our behalf to tax department and it is linked to our PAN card.

Now at the end of the year before filing for tax returns, we might want to check that how much tax is already paid by us through different ways and then we might want to pay additional remaining tax or ask for a refund in case we see that we paid more tax in a year.

An important point to note is, do not disclose your PAN information to someone else , otherwise it becomes a security issue . Others can also view your Form 26AS and hence find out how much tax you paid

.

How to view Form 26AS online ?

1. Go to this website : https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/index.do

2. Register your PAN Card and password (search for REGISTER)

3. Once you are registered , go to Login page (Search for LOGIN)

4. Go to “My Account” section (at the top) and sub section - “View Tax Credit Statement (Form 26AS)”

5. Choose assessment year , date of birth and click SUBMIT

6. It will ask you for confirmation to redirect to NSDL website to view your form 26AS

7. Click on the bottom button which says “View Form 26AS”

8. You can now see your Form 26AS

Direct link to Form 26AS in your netbanking ?

Yes, A lot of banks like ICICI , SBI etc provide a direct link to your form 26AS through internet banking. On clicking the link, You can directly see 26A.