Form 16, AIS & TIS Explained: What to Check Before Filing ITR

Filing an income tax return is usually smooth when three parts match. The salary details, other income, and tax credits. Form 16, AIS(Annual Information Statement) and TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary) are meant to help taxpayers confirm these parts. They are not duplicates of each other. Each document covers a different part of your tax picture, and that is exactly why comparing them before filing reduces errors and delays.

A common filing mistake is relying on one document alone. Another is trusting pre-filled data without checking whether the underlying information is complete or correctly mapped. A simple, structured review of Form 16, AIS and TIS prevents most surprise issues such as missed interest income, duplicated entries, or missing TDS credit.

What Form 16, AIS and TIS Actually Mean?

1. Form 16 Definition

Form 16 is salary and TDS certificate from employer. It shows what your employer has treated as salary income for the year and how much tax was deducted from it. It is normally split into:

• Part A: Employer and employee details, and tax deducted and deposited
• Part B: Salary computation, exemptions/deductions considered by the employer, and taxable salary

Form 16 is essential for salaried individuals because it is the core proof of employer-reported salary and employer TDS. However, it does not cover everything you earned outside salary.

2. AIS (Annual Information Statement)

AIS is a statement on the income tax portal showing information reported against your PAN from multiple reporting sources. It may include salary-related entries, bank interest, dividend information, certain financial transactions, and other items reported to the department.

AIS is useful because it often shows income you may not actively track month to month. Interest across multiple accounts or smaller credits spread through the year. AIS also allows you to give feedback if an entry appears incorrect, duplicated, or not related to you.

3. TIS (Taxpayer Information Summary)

TIS is the summary view of AIS. It groups AIS information into categories and shows totals in a more consolidated format. It is useful as a quick scan before you go into AIS line-by-line.
A practical way to remember the roles is:

• Form 16 is your salary proof (employer side)
• TIS is your category totals (system summary)
• AIS is your detailed entries (system detail)

Before You Compare Numbers, Confirm These Basics

Before you start matching figures, ensure you are looking at the correct Financial Year and Assessment Year. Many confusion points come from mixing years, especially when documents are downloaded at different times.

It also helps to keep a small set of supporting documents ready:

•  Form 16 (all pages/parts)
• Bank interest summary or interest certificates (if available)
• Broker capital gains statement (if relevant)
• Deduction proofs you plan to claim (for example, insurance premium receipts, home loan interest certificate)

This avoids memory-based filing, which is where mistakes creep in.

What to Check in Form 16?

Form 16 is where you confirm your salary and employer TDS. A clean Form 16 check prevents salary mismatch issues later.

Part A checks

Start with the basics:

• Your PAN and employer TAN (Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number) are correct
• The period of employment matches the year
• TDS appears consistent with what was deducted from salary across the year

If you changed jobs during the year, you should normally have Form 16 from each employer. One Form 16 rarely represents a full year when employment has changed.

Part B checks

Part B is where the salary computation sits. It is important to confirm:

• Gross salary is broadly consistent with payslips
• Exemptions or allowances considered (where relevant) are correctly reflected
• Deductions considered by the employer match what you declared to payroll
• Total taxable salary and tax payable

Form 16's goal is to catch major mismatches, missing deductions, or obvious reporting errors.

What to Check in TIS and AIS?

1. Start with TIS for a fast scan

TIS is the quickest way to see what the system broadly has against your PAN. Scan the key categories that commonly affect filing:

• Salary
• Bank interest
• Dividends
• Capital market related entries (where applicable)

If the totals look broadly aligned with your year, the next step is to verify everything in detail. 

2. Use AIS when numbers don’t match

Open AIS if you see:

• A category total that looks too high
• An income item you do not recognise
• Entries that seem duplicated
• Entries that appear to belong to another year

AIS is not only a display tool. It is also the place where you can provide feedback when an entry appears incorrect or duplicated. This does not replace filing correctly, but it helps you record that an item needs correction and supports cleaner records over time.

How to Handle Common Mismatch Situations 

Mismatch 1:  Form 16 salary does not match TIS salary total

This often happens when you have more than one employer, salary information is reported in parts, or there is timing mismatch in reporting.

In these cases, Form 16 and payslips should remain your base for salary computation. TIS and AIS are used to understand what is appearing against your PAN and whether something is duplicated or incomplete.

Mismatch 2: Bank interest is higher than expected

This is one of the most common filing surprises. Interest is often spread across multiple savings accounts, multiple fixed deposits or recurring deposits, and accounts you do not actively monitor.

AIS may capture interest reported by banks across these sources. The right step is to compare AIS entries against your bank’s interest summary/certificate or your bank statements.

Mismatch 3:  Dividends appear more than once

Dividend reporting can sometimes appear in more than one place in AIS. If the same dividend appears duplicated, validate using your broker/dividend statement and then consider giving feedback in AIS for the duplicate item.

Mismatch 4: Capital market entries look unfamiliar

AIS and TIS do not always look like broker capital gains reports. AIS can show transaction-level or category-level reporting, while broker statements focus on final gains and tax computation format.

In this case, compute capital gains based on your broker’s capital gains statement and treat AIS/TIS as a completeness check so that major items are not missed.

What to Do If AIS or TIS Looks Wrong?

AIS feedback is useful, but it does not replace correct reporting in your return. The filing should always be based on correct computation supported by documents. A sensible approach is:

• Validate first using your own documents (bank, broker, employer)
• Use AIS feedback for entries that are clearly incorrect, duplicated, or not related to you
• Follow up with the reporting source when necessary. If a bank or employer has reported something incorrectly, it may require correction from them for system records to reflect properly

What If TDS Is Missing Even Though It Was Deducted?

This is where Form 26AS becomes important. Form 26AS reflects tax credits (TDS/TCS and other tax payments) visible under your PAN. If tax was deducted but does not appear as credit:

• Check PAN details are correct (mistyped PAN can block credit)
• Check whether the deductor deposited TDS and filed the relevant statement
• Follow up with the deductor (employer/bank) if correction is needed

Missing credit issues are easier to resolve when identified early. Leaving it until filing week often creates delays.