How to fix a TDS mismatch in Form 26AS and the AIS
Three statements, three different jobs
Before diagnosing anything, it helps to know that the portal shows you three overlapping documents and they are not interchangeable.
| Statement | What it actually is |
| Form 26AS | The tax credit statement. What has actually been deposited against your PAN — TDS, TCS, advance tax, self-assessment tax and refunds. This is what your refund is computed from. |
| AIS (Annual Information Statement) | A much wider record of reported financial transactions: interest, dividends, securities transactions, property, foreign remittances. It includes items with no tax deducted at all. |
| TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary) | A category-level summary derived from the AIS, showing the processed value the department intends to use. |
A figure can be wrong in the AIS and right in 26AS, or the reverse, and the remedy differs. The AIS has a feedback mechanism you can use yourself. Form 26AS does not — it can only be changed by the person who filed the underlying statement.
What actually causes the gap
- Wrong PAN quoted. The credit has gone to someone else’s account or to a suspense record. The most common single cause.
- Wrong assessment year. The deductor filed the deduction against the previous or next year, so it is deposited but invisible in the year you are filing.
- The deductor deducted but did not deposit. Nothing will appear until they pay the challan.
- The deductor deposited but did not file the quarterly statement. The money is with the government and unmapped to you until the TDS return is filed.
- Challan mismatch at the deductor’s end. The statement was filed but the challan details do not tally, so the credit sits unmatched.
- Timing. A fourth-quarter deduction may simply not have been filed yet when you look in April or May.
Only the last of these resolves itself. All the others need somebody to act, and in five out of six cases that somebody is the deductor rather than you.
The correction sequence
Step 1 — Establish what you are actually owed
Collect the Form 16 or Form 16A for the period. That certificate is the deductor’s own statement of what they deducted, and it is the document you will hold them to. Note the TAN on it — you will need it for every subsequent conversation.
Step 2 — Compare against Form 26AS, line by line
Download 26AS from the e-filing portal for the correct assessment year. Match on amount, section and quarter rather than on totals alone. A total that agrees can still hide a deduction recorded in the wrong quarter, which matters if the two quarters fall in different assessment years.
Step 3 — Check the AIS separately
Open the AIS and look at the same income. If the income figure itself is wrong — an interest amount that is not yours, a securities transaction you did not make — submit feedback directly in the AIS. You can mark information as incorrect, as relating to another person, as duplicated, or as already accounted for. That feedback is recorded and shown alongside the reported value.
Step 4 — Go to the deductor, in writing
For anything wrong in 26AS, the deductor has to file a correction statement. Write to them with the certificate, the TAN, the assessment year, the quarter, the amount, and what you believe is wrong. Email rather than telephone: you want a record, and TDS corrections often take more than one attempt. An employer’s payroll team and a bank’s branch both handle these routinely.
Step 5 — Escalate only if that fails
If a deductor will not correct a genuine error, the grievance mechanism on the e-filing portal is the route, and TRACES handles TDS-specific complaints. Keep every piece of correspondence: the evidence that you tried is what makes the escalation work.
What to do if the deadline arrives before the fix
Do not claim credit that does not appear in 26AS and hope it lands. Credit is allowed on the basis of what is reflected against your PAN, so an unsupported claim is likely to produce a demand under Section 143(1) and a refund reduced to the matched amount.
The safer sequence is to file on time with the credit that is actually visible, keep the evidence, and revise the return once the deductor’s correction is reflected. A revised return can be filed within the time allowed for the assessment year, and revising after a correction is a routine, low-friction event. A demand raised on an unsupported claim is neither.
One exception worth knowing: where tax was demonstrably deducted from your income but not deposited by the deductor, the law does not permit recovery of that amount from you a second time. Establishing it requires the certificate and the correspondence, which is why Step 1 and Step 4 exist in that order.
Frequently asked questions
My Form 16 shows TDS but 26AS does not. Who fixes it?
The deductor. Form 26AS is built from the TDS statements they file and the challans they pay, and neither you nor the department can edit it directly. Send them the certificate, the TAN, the quarter and the amount in writing and ask for a correction statement.
Can I correct the AIS myself?
Yes, and this is the one place you have direct control. The AIS carries a feedback facility where you can mark an entry as incorrect, belonging to another person, duplicated, or already accounted for. The feedback is recorded against the entry. It does not change Form 26AS, which is a separate statement.
How long does a TDS correction take to appear?
Once the deductor files the correction statement it typically takes some weeks to process and reflect. Plan for it rather than waiting for it — if the filing deadline is close, file with what is visible and revise afterwards.
Should I wait to file until the mismatch is resolved?
Generally not. Missing the due date brings a late fee under Section 234F and the loss of the right to carry forward most losses, and neither is worth trading for a credit you can claim in a revised return instead.
Where to go next on this site
- TDS Calculator — Deduction across sections, rates and thresholds.
- TDS on a ₹1 Lakh Professional Fee — What gets deducted under 194J on a single invoice.
- TDS on ₹60,000 of FD Interest — The bank deduction most often mis-recorded.
- Which ITR Form Should You File — The return this credit is claimed in.
- Income Tax Calculator — What the credit is being set against.
- Tax Glossary — TDS, TCS, 26AS and AIS defined in full.
Sources
- Income Tax e-filing portal — Form 26AS, AIS, TIS and the grievance facility
- TRACES — TDS certificates and deductor correction statements