Tax & Compliance · THE NO-PANIC PLAN
Reconcile Indian Salary TDS Before Filing an Income Tax Return
This workflow reconciles salary and tax-deducted-at-source records for one Indian return period. Form 16 is issued by the employer; Form 26AS and AIS/TIS are accessed through official Income Tax Department services and have different coverage. A mismatch needs source correction or portal feedback, not guesswork. Period labels and correction rules can change across tax years, especially in the 2026 transition. Nirmion tools are only for a private reminder list; never submit PAN, salary details, tax statements, bank receipts or login data to them.
MISSION Help an Indian salaried taxpayer compare Form 16 with official tax-credit and information statements, route discrepancies to the correct source owner, and confirm corrections before filing.
Open the official Income Tax e-Filing portalTHE REAL-WORLD BIT
What happens outside this browser tab?
Set the exact FY/AY and gather employer certificates; retrieve official Form 26AS and AIS/TIS; compare salary and TDS by source and period; route mismatches to the employer/deductor, official AIS feedback or challan verification; then recheck and document resolution before filing or using a currently applicable post-filing correction service.
YOUR CHECKLIST, WITH FEWER DRAMATIC SIGHES
One step at a time.
Follow the order below. If a step names a Nirmion tool, its link is right there with it.
- 01
Fix the tax year and collect the employer-issued certificate
Start with one salary period and the matching return period: the FY/AY labels can differ during the 2026 tax-law transition, so copy the year shown on the Income Tax portal and the Form 16 rather than assuming a label. Download Form 16 from the employer/payroll provider and confirm it identifies the right employer, employee, salary period and TDS totals. If you changed jobs, collect each employer's certificate and note overlapping employment or missing months. Keep original PDFs and payslips in a private, access-controlled folder; never put PAN, salary amounts, Form 16 files, login credentials or tax identifiers in a public checklist. For unusual income or year-transition questions, ask a qualified tax professional before deciding how the return should be filed.
- 02
Download the official tax statements for the same period
Sign in directly at the official Income Tax e-Filing portal and open the corresponding Form 26AS and AIS/TIS for the same return period. The department's current salaried-individual guidance lists Form 16, Form 26AS and AIS; its AIS FAQ explains that the statements have different coverage and that AIS is not guaranteed to include every transaction. Download statements from the portal in the available supported formats and preserve the download date. Match identity/year details before comparing anything. Treat employer email attachments or an old local copy as supporting records, not as a replacement for checking the live official account. Keep these sensitive files off Nirmion tools and public links.
- 03
Compare salary and tax credit lines with source records
Reconcile the employer's Form 16 salary and TDS totals against payroll payslips, Form 26AS TDS entries and the relevant AIS/TIS salary information. Compare by employer/deductor, period, gross amount, tax deducted and credit shown; keep separate rows for different employers and do not treat a similar amount as a match without checking the source and period. Record each difference privately with the document/page reference and whether it is a timing issue, missing employer submission, wrong identity/year, duplicate-looking information or an unexplained value. AIS provides reported and feedback-adjusted information, but the department says it may not show every transaction. Do not omit other income from a tax return simply because it is absent from AIS.
- 04
Route each mismatch to the party that can correct its source
For missing or incorrect salary TDS, contact the employer/payroll or other deductor using a verified contact channel, provide only the supporting records needed, and ask it to check the filed TDS statement and submit the applicable correction. The Income Tax Department identifies the employer/deductor as the party responsible for correcting a TDS mismatch; the taxpayer cannot edit that source record from a checklist. For an AIS item that appears incorrect, use the relevant item's official Feedback action, choose the applicable response, submit supporting information only through the portal, and save its acknowledgement/activity entry. For self-paid advance or self-assessment tax absent from records, verify the challan number and PAN against the bank receipt before escalating. Do not claim tax credit beyond what the official tax-credit record permits; get advice if the evidence conflicts.
- 05
Recheck the official records and close the reconciliation
Maintain a private list of each variance, source owner, request date, reference number and next follow-up. After a correction or AIS feedback is processed, sign in again and compare the updated official statement with Form 16 and the original receipt; save the portal acknowledgement and confirm that the tax year and amounts now match. If the return has already been filed, use the official Tax Credit Mismatch service for that assessment year and follow the currently available revised-return or rectification route only if it applies to your filing status; do not copy historic instructions for a different year. Close the reconciliation only when each mismatch has a documented resolution or an explicitly assigned unresolved owner. Use a tax professional for disputed credits, multiple-year issues or statutory deadline questions.
THE HELPER CREW
Tools for the fiddly bits.
These are the currently published Nirmion tools matched to this guide. Open a tool page for its accepted inputs and limits.
RECEIPTS, PLEASE
Sources & review notes
Each source is linked to the steps it supports. Open it to check its scope and current guidance.
Source checked 2026-10-06