If the mismatch is due to your employer’s mistake, he/she has to file a revised TDS Return with correct details. In case of a tax credit mismatch notified by the IT department the errors should be corrected online through the IT e-filing portal.
TDS(Tax Deducted at Source) should ideally be the same in Form 26AS and Form 16 or 16A. However, sometimes there might be inconsistencies owing to several reasons including clerical mistake.
Form 16 and 16A are tax credit statements that confirm the deduction of tax from income of an individual or company. While Form 16 is issued annually on TDS from salary, Form 16A is issued every 3 months for TDS on income from other sources. Form 26AS, on the other hand, is a government record of the tax deducted from an individual or company and deposited with the Income Tax Department.
Once TDS or TCS (Tax Collected at Source) is deducted from an income, the person who is in charge of deducting TDS or TCS should deposit the amount collected with the IT Department. Sometimes, if the employer has not deposited the amount with the department on time, it is likely that TDS mentioned in Form 16 or 16A will not match with Form 26AS.
To be able to file your income tax return, it is essential that tax credit in Form 26AS and Form 16/16A should be the same. For tax computation, it is important to know the TDS already deducted from your salary so that any additional tax on other incomes can be determined properly. If excess TDS has been deducted, then you may also be liable for a refund from the department.
If there is any difference in the tax credit figures of Form 26AS and Form 16/16A, and you have not rectified it in time, then the taxman will consider the figure in Form 26AS for calculations.
Rectifying TDS Mismatch
Once you compare the forms and identify the error, you must:
- Inform the person responsible for deducting TDS from your income, i.e. your employer.
- If the reason for mismatch is a mistake from your employer’s side, it is easier and faster for them to make corrections.
- The employer has to file a revised TDS Return. Ensure that the details are correct in the revised TDS return in order to avoid another mismatch.
- If you have received a notice from the Income Tax department about tax credit mismatch, you can respond to it online through Income Tax e-filing portal.
- You need to choose ‘Taxpayer is correcting data for Tax Credit Mismatch only’ under the options and fill in the relevant details.
Filing of revised TDS Return will take some time, and even after the revised version is filed, it will take more time for the correction to reflect in Form 26AS. The best way to ensure that there is no discrepancy in TDS is to check your Form 26AS periodically. If you file your income tax return online, Form 26AS can be accessed from your Income Tax e-filing account.
Reasons For TDS Mismatch
If you find a mismatch of TDS in Form 26AS and Form 16/16A, you may first want to find out why the mistake happened. This will help you take the right steps towards correcting the discrepancy. For this, you must first compare both the forms and see which entries are not reflecting in Form 26AS.
The following are the common errors leading to TDS mismatch:
- The person deducting TDS has not filed TDS return.
- Wrong amount mentioned in TDS return.
- Wrong PAN number of the employee quoted by the deductor.
- Wrong PAN and TAN number of the deductor stated.
- Wrong Challan Identification Number of TDS payment quoted in TDS Return.
- Wrong Assessment Year stated in TDS return.
- Any detail of TDS payment omitted from the TDS return.
- Challan-wise annexure in TDS Statement does not mention details of the employee such as name or gender.
- Erroneous TDS amount claimed in the return.
- False or excess TDS claimed in the return.
Read more at: How to e-verify ITR using Aadhaar number
View Tax Credit Mismatch User Manual
1. Overview
The Tax Credit Mismatch service is available to all registered users (including ERIs) on the e-Filing portal. With this service, you can view the tax credit mismatch of your e-Filed Income Tax Returns immediately after you have uploaded the Income Tax Return for the relevant Assessment Year for any number of records.
This service highlights any mismatch in Tax Deducted at Source, Tax Collected at Source, Advance Tax or Regular assessment tax amounts reported by you while filing Income Tax Return. In case of a mismatch, you may rectify the errors at your end or get them corrected by Tax Deductors by making a correction in TDS Returns/Forms like 24Q, 26Q, 27Q, 27EQ (either by filing a Rectification Request or by filing a Revised Return).
2. Prerequisites for availing this service
- Registered user on the e-Filing portal with valid user ID and password
- Valid and active PAN
- At least one Income Tax Return is filed for the relevant Assessment Year (AY) for checking Tax Credit Mismatch of that year
- TDS and/or TCS and/or Income Tax paid is reflected in Form 26AS on the e-Filing portal
- For ERIs: ERIs should have been added and the ERI should have added the taxpayer as a Client
- For ERIs: The status of the ERI should be active
3. Step-by-Step Guide
3.1. View Tax Credit Mismatch
Step 1: Log in to the e-Filing portal using your user ID and password.
Step 2: On your Dashboard, click Services > Tax Credit Mismatch.
Step 3: On the Tax Credit Mismatch page, select the Assessment Year (for which you want to view the mismatch details) and click Submit.
Note: Your PAN will get pre-filled under the PAN option.
Step 4: The mismatch between TDS and/or TCS and/or Income Tax paid details provided by you in the Income Tax Return and as reflected in Form 26AS is displayed.
Note:
- If there are more than 10 records of mismatch, click Download to download it (in PDF /XLS format).
- If there are 10 or fewer records of mismatch, you can view them on the Tax Credit Mismatch page. You can also download it (in PDF / XLS) by clicking Download.
3.2. View Tax Credit Mismatch (for ERIs)
Step 1: Log in to the e-Filing portal using your user ID and password.
Step 2: On your Dashboard, click Services > Tax Credit Mismatch.
Step 3: On the Tax Credit Mismatch page, enter the PAN (whose details you want to check), select the Assessment Year (for which you want to view the mismatch details) and click Submit.
Step 4: The mismatch between TDS and/or TCS and/or Income Tax paid (Other than TDS / TCS) details provided in the ITR filed for the selected PAN and that reflected in Form 26AS is displayed.
Note:
- If there are more than 10 records of mismatch, click Download to download it (in PDF/ XLS format).
- If there are 10 or lesser records of mismatch, you can view them on the Tax Credit Mismatch page. You can also download it (in PDF / XLS format) by clicking Download
Read more at: Addressing Income Tax Department’s Mismatches: Online Resolution for Taxpayers