Before Filing Your ITR: Five Checks That Can Prevent Problems Later
Your income-tax return should not be prepared by accepting portal figures without verification. Information reported by employers, banks, brokers and others may be incomplete, duplicated or incorrect. Compare it with your own records before filing.
Check 1: Identify the correct return form
Confirm the assessment year, your residential status, the nature of your income and the applicable ITR form. Tax rates, deductions, rebate limits and forms change each year. Taxpayers with foreign assets or foreign-source income should note that ITR-1 and ITR-4 may not be appropriate.
Check 2: Verify Form 26AS
Use Form 26AS to verify TDS, TCS and tax payments credited against your PAN. Match the figures against your Form 16 and Form 16A. If a credit is missing or incorrect, check whether the mistake is in your records or in the deductor's statement. Where necessary, ask the deductor to file a correction, and Form 26AS will update.
Check 3: Reconcile AIS and TIS with your own records
AIS shows financial information reported against your PAN by employers, banks, brokers and others, but it may not always be complete or correct. Review it against your own records section by section.
If an entry is incorrect, duplicated or does not belong to you, submit feedback on the portal and retain the supporting records. Do not alter a correct return to match an incorrect AIS entry. Submit feedback early, as processing time can vary.
TIS is a category-wise summary of AIS that may reflect feedback and may pre-fill applicable return fields.
Pre-filled information is a filing aid, not proof that the figure is correct. The taxpayer remains responsible for reporting the correct income.
Reconcile AIS capital-gain entries with contract notes, broker statements and the correct computation. Where AIS is incorrect, preserve the reconciliation. Transactions in virtual digital assets such as cryptocurrency may involve separate reporting and TDS reconciliation.
Check 4: Choose the regime and gather documents
The new regime under section 115BAC is the default but the old regime may be chosen subject to applicable conditions. Those with business or professional income face separate conditions for switching regimes. Compare both for the year. Under the new regime, commonly claimed deductions including sections 80C, 80D, 80G and 80E are generally unavailable, though certain deductions such as eligible NPS employer contributions may continue.
Documents to keep ready
- Form 16 and Form 16A from all deductors
- Bank interest statements. Interest is reportable even without TDS or Form 16A.
- Capital-gain statements and contract notes
- House-property and home-loan records (interest under section 24, not Chapter VI-A)
- Old-regime deduction evidence: insurance premium receipts, eligible medical expenditure under section 80D, PF statements, Form 10BE and donor-eligibility check for section 80G
- Other income details: rent, freelance, savings interest
- Earlier-year loss carry-forward details, if applicable
- Foreign income or asset records. A resident and ordinarily resident taxpayer may have to disclose these even where no additional Indian tax is payable.
- Validated bank-account details for refund
Check 5: Review portal and return before submitting
Confirm the refund account is active, correctly entered and validated. Update your email and mobile number on the portal, and check it regularly for notices and pending actions. An unexplained mismatch may result in a processing difference, e-campaign or further inquiry. An incorrect or unsupported claim can lead to additional tax and interest and, in an appropriate case, penalty proceedings. Review the return before verification.
Questions we are asked
What should I do when AIS is wrong?
If an AIS entry is incorrect, duplicated or does not belong to you, submit the appropriate feedback on the portal and retain the supporting records. Do not alter a correct return merely to match an incorrect AIS entry. Reconcile AIS with your own contract notes, broker statements and the legally correct computation. Where AIS is incorrect, preserve the reconciliation.
Can I file while AIS feedback is pending?
A return can be filed while AIS feedback is pending, but it must contain the income and tax details that are legally correct. A later change in AIS or TIS does not automatically revise an already filed return. If the filed return becomes incorrect as a result, a revised return or another appropriate remedy may be required.
Before you verify: five-point check
- Select the correct ITR form.
- Match Form 26AS with your tax certificates.
- Reconcile AIS and TIS with your own records.
- Compare both regimes for the relevant year.
- Review the return before verifying.
If Form 26AS, AIS or TIS does not agree with your records, check and reconcile the difference before filing. If correction is still pending, report the legally correct figures and retain the supporting records. After submitting the return, complete verification within the prescribed time. TaxSmriti can assist with reconciliation, return filing and correction of reporting mismatches.
This note is written for Assessment Year 2026-27 and for information only. It is not advice on any particular matter. Provisions, thresholds, regime conditions and portal features change from year to year. The position on your own facts may differ. For business or professional income, foreign income or assets, or complex capital-gain situations, take professional advice before submitting the return.
