Income Tax Credits: Annual Tax Statement

In the financial year 2008-2009, the income tax department is sending a statement that gives details of tax credits given to you for the financial year 2007-08 for which you filed your income tax return. This statement is Form 26AS, popularly known as the Annual Tax Statement.

What does the Annual Tax Statement contain?
The statement contains 2 types of details:
a. Details of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) by various persons and deposited on your behalf. E.g. Your employer deducting TDS from the salary earned by you; and
b. Tax payment made by you through the bank (Advance Tax / Self Assessment Tax).

Why is this statement important?
Details of your TDS given in the statement are not based on the information provided by you in your Income Tax Return. Rather, these are based on TDS returns filed by the deductor and statements filed by the bank about tax payments with the Tax Authorities. The Income Tax Department will give you credit only for the amount of tax that has been mentioned in the Annual Tax Statement, irrespective of what has been mentioned in the Income Tax Return. The tax credit available to you may increase or decrease in case the deductor revises the information.

So what do I have to do?
If you have received this statement, review and verify the details given in it. If there is any discrepancy concerning your TDS data, contact the deductor and ask them to make the necessary changes. Once you have done this, inform NSDL of the same. To report discrepancies in data concerning tax paid by you or for other queries/communication, write to NSDL at reply@nsdl.co.in.