Annual Information Statement

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Annual Information Statement (AIS) is the consolidated tax-information document published by the Indian Income Tax Department for every taxpayer with a Permanent Account Number (PAN), drawing together data reported to the department by banks, stock brokers, mutual fund Registrars and Transfer Agents (RTAs ), depositories, stock exchanges, registrars of immovable property, foreign-remittance reporters, and other categories of reporting entities. The AIS replaced the predecessor Form 26AS as the principal pre-filed information source for income tax return preparation following its phased rollout from November 2021. The statement is generated for each financial year and is accessible through the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department; it forms the primary reconciliation source against which a taxpayer’s income tax return and the underlying transaction records are matched, with material variance triggering scrutiny under Section 143(2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Permanent Account Number

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Permanent Account Number (PAN) is the 10-character alphanumeric identifier issued by the Indian Income Tax Department under Section 139A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 , serving as the principal taxpayer identifier in India and as the operational gateway for virtually every regulated financial transaction. The PAN is statutorily mandatory for filing income tax returns, for receiving taxable salary or business income, for substantial financial transactions including purchase or sale of immovable property, securities, mutual fund units, and high-value bank transactions, and for opening demat and trading accounts. Since 2017, the PAN must be linked to the holder’s Aadhaar number under Section 139AA, with unlinked PANs becoming inoperative for tax-filing and most financial-transaction purposes.

Income Tax Department on WebNotes

Annual Information Statement

Permanent Account Number