Causes Of Errors In Form 26AS And How To Rectify It? 

It is advised to all the employees’ cum deductees who are contributing a part of their salaries as TDS to the government need to check whether the data mentioned in the TDS certificate (Form 16/ Form 16A) matches with the details of Form 26AS.

Form 26AS is one document that depicts the amount of tax deducted (any kind) under your PAN during a particular Financial Year. Apart from TDS other crucial information such as advance tax and self-assessment tax deposited by you is also mentioned in Form 26AS. Form 26AS is a mandatory requirement while filing the returns.

As directed by law, if you buy a car worth more than Rs. 10 Lakhs then the seller needs to collect tax at source or TCS on your purchase. TCS rate is 1% of the total amount paid by you. It is now the duty of the seller to issue you Form 27D at the time he is collecting the tax which in turn will be visible in your Form 26AS.

There are instances when TDS deducted during FY 2018-19 is not reflected in Form 26AS or the total TDS shown in Form 26AS does not match with the figures calculated by you or mentioned in the TDS form provided to you by your employer.

Mentioned in Income Tax Laws you can only avail ITR on TDS mentioned in Form 26AS, therefore it is advised always to cross-check all the details before filing the ITR Via Gen IT Software along with Form 26AS. In ITR you can manually fill in details referring to the TDS certificate you have obtained from your employer but the tax authorities will consider the TDS mentioned in your Form 26AS. Also, you can e-file TDS via Gen TDS Software.

What are the causes of errors in Form 26AS?

There are several reasons for errors to be found in Form 26AS which may even lead to less credit availed by the employee. Here are some prominent reasons among them:

• The TDS deducted from your salary is not accurately reported by the employer either the amount is mentioned in the wrong segment or the amount itself is mentioned wrong.
  
• The employee has provided the wrong PAN to his/her employer. Due to which the TDS deducted from his salary is not mentioned in his Form 26AS. Please Note: the wrong PAN declared by you to your bank may also lead to wrong ITC availment.
  
• Due to any case (whether the employee is the defaulter or the employer) if the PAN mentioned in the TDS certificate by the employer does not match with the PAN given in Form 26AS of the employee, a credit will not be released by tax authorities.
  
• If PAN and TDS deducted is correctly mentioned by the employer or any other deductor errors while entering the assessment year or taxes added under the incorrect category may lead to the mismatch in Form 26AS. Ultimately causing wrong ITC outgo.
  
• If related to the selling of property under joint ownership it is seen that the buyer usually deducts the TDS but forgets to mention it under the PAN of both the owners. This leads to an error in Form 26AS of the buyer.
  

How to rectify the errors in Form 26AS?

One can rectify the errors in Form 26AS once he is aware of the mistake made.

If the employer or the deductor has made a mistake while entering the amount or has not mentioned the amount under your PAN then you need to approach the deductor who in turn will make corrections in the form.

If TDS is already deducted by the deductor but is nowhere visible in Form 26AS then possibly the deductor has missed out the transaction or has entered the wrong credentials of the deductee in TDS returns. If such is the case then the individual (deductee) needs to get the corrections done by approaching the deductor with the mistake else he might face difficulty while availing ITC or any other exemption.

Once the amendments are done correctly by the deductor, the same will be reflected in Form 26AS of the deductee.

Do not forget the details of advance tax paid and self-assessment tax is also mentioned in Form 26AS. Errors in those segments may even lead to an inconvenience. Make sure to check the information in these fields and if there is any mistake rectify it on time by writing an application to the assessing officer. Once the correction is accepted and updated by the Assessing Officer it will automatically be displayed in Form 26AS.