How to File Income Tax Return Online: Reconciling Form 16 with AIS

Last updated: Sept 2026

Pre-filled data on the e-filing portal comes from AIS and Form 26AS, not directly from Form 16. Assuming these always match is what causes most post-filing correction notices for salaried employees.

• The 3 documents to reconcile: Form 16 (from your employer), Form 26AS (TDS credit statement), AIS (Annual Information Statement)
• Common mismatch causes: late TDS deposit, interest income not in Form 16, or a mid-year job change
• Where mismatches surface: the pre-filled income figure may differ from your Form 16's stated salary
• Correction window: before submission, since resolving a mismatch pre-filing avoids a later notice entirely

• Portal reference year: Tax Year 2026-27 filings use pre-filled data current as of the actual filing da

  
  

Reconcile all 3 documents before submitting. This is mandatory to file income tax return online for salaried employees correctly, since a pre-submission fix takes minutes while a post-filing correction takes considerably longer.

This is the specific confusion behind most salaried filing questions, and it deserves a direct answer. The portal's pre-filled data comes from AIS and Form 26AS, both populated by your employer's and other reporting entities' submissions to the department, not directly transcribed from your Form 16.

Three genuine causes explain most mismatches, and each has a different fix. The realistic causes of a mismatch are:

• Timing differences, where your employer's TDS deposit hasn't yet reflected in Form 26AS at the time you're filing
• Additional income sources, such as bank interest, appearing in AIS that your Form 16 (covering salary only) never included

• A job change mid-year, where two employers' TDS submissions need to be combined correctly, and one may be incomplete

  
  

Identifying which specific cause applies to your mismatch determines whether you wait, add the missing income, or contact your employer directly.

Five steps take a spotted mismatch to a resolved, accurate filing.

1. Download your Form 16 from your employer, Form 26AS, and AIS from the e-filing portal.
2. Compare the salary figure across all 3, checking specifically for TDS amount and gross salary consistency.
3. If AIS shows additional income (interest, dividends) not in Form 16, add this income to your return manually.
4. If Form 26AS shows less TDS credit than Form 16 states, contact your employer to confirm the deposit was actually made.

5. Only proceed to final submission once all 3 documents are reconciled, not before.

   
   

Skipping step 5 and submitting despite an unresolved mismatch is what generates the majority of post-filing correction notices salaried employees receive.

Form 16 alone was historically treated as sufficient, but AIS's broader scope means it now regularly surfaces income a salaried employee's Form 16 was never designed to capture.

Consider Kavita, a 30-year-old analyst with a household income of Rs. 78,000 a month and a CIBIL Score of 738, who notices her AIS shows Rs. 22,000 in bank interest her Form 16 doesn't mention.

Because Kavita caught the gap before submitting, she avoided the mismatch notice that would likely have followed had she filed using only her Form 16 figures.

A filing free of unresolved mismatches presents cleaner income documentation for a home loan application. Approval timelines can extend where a lender's verification finds a discrepancy between your ITR and Form 16, and minimum income thresholds can differ by city. Check your home loan eligibility with your filing fully reconciled.