The tax statement that gathers what was reported about them

What AIS is

The Annual Information Statement, or AIS, is the Income Tax Department's view of the information it holds about a taxpayer. Its own FAQs describe it as a comprehensive view of that information.

What it contains

According to the department's FAQs, it has two parts.

• Part A is general information: PAN, a masked Aadhaar number, name, date of birth, mobile number, email and address.
• Part B is tax deducted or collected at source, information from Statements of Financial Transactions (SFT), tax payments, demands and refunds, and other information such as foreign remittances and GST turnover.

The FAQs also say AIS gathers information at the level of the source that reported it. That is what makes an entry useful as a clue: it can name an institution.

How it is opened

The FAQs say to log in at incometax.gov.in and then do either of these.

1. Choose Annual Information Statement (AIS) on the dashboard, then Proceed, then the AIS tile.
2. Or go to e-File, then Income Tax Return, then View AIS, then Proceed, then the AIS tile.

The catch for a legal heir

A taxpayer opens their own AIS. To act for someone who has died, you first register as their legal heir, which is a request with documents and an approval. We describe it step by step on the Find assets page. The AIS FAQs do not mention representatives or heirs, so after you are approved, check for yourself whether the AIS opens for the person you represent.

AIS and Form 26AS

The FAQs say that from assessment year 2023-24, Form 26AS shows only tax deducted or collected at source, on TRACES, while AIS gives broader information and lets a taxpayer give feedback on an entry.

What it cannot tell you

It shows what has been reported to the tax department. It is a tax record, not a list of everything a person owned.

This guide describes official pages as we read them on 1 October 2026. They change, so confirm on the page before you act.