ITR filing 2026: Is AIS enough to report stock and mutual fund capital gains?

The Annual Information Statement (AIS) is a detailed document that outlines the total tax payments, TDS, TCS, and income sources across different categories for taxpayers' convenience. The data in the AIS comes from the SFT, TDS return and other filings made by banks, post office, property registrar and other institutions.

In the past, there have been cases where the AIS showed incorrect information due to mistakes in reporting by these entities or for other factors. So keep in mind that AIS is a secondary source of information, the primary sources are always the bank statement, stock broker's P&L statements, post office passbooks and others.

When it comes to filing income tax return (ITR) for AY 2026-2027 (FY 2025-2026), make sure to verify all the information in AIS against the primary source of information and then file the ITR. For AY 2026-2027, the ITR filing due date is July 31, 2026. For Tax Year 2026-2027, the ITR filing due date is July 31, 2027 for students, pensioners, salaried and other taxpayers who aren't subject to tax audit.

AIS also includes stock market and mutual fund transaction details but don't solely rely on it

The AIS data for the full financial year is typically updated only by May, after all transactions for March, reported in April are processed.

Neeraj Agarwala, Senior Partner, Nangia & Co LLP cautions that relying only on AIS without proper verification may lead to under-reporting or incorrect reporting of income.

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Agarwala says that AIS also contains details relating to the sale of securities and mutual fund units and it typically includes information such as the date of sale, sale value, quantity, and the cost of acquisition. The AIS also indicates whether the transaction is classified as long-term or short-term. These details are reflected in the AIS even if no TDS is applicable.

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What should taxpayers do?

According to Agarwala, taxpayers should download the tax P&L statement from their broker's platform and reconcile it with the AIS data.

The tax P&L will consist of details of brokerage fees which is allowed as a deduction for computation of capital gains.

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Agarwala says that in addition to the stock broker's P&L statement, you should start preparing an independent capital gains computation before filing the income tax return (ITR).

Agarwala says: "This is important to ensure that all transactions and set-off of losses are properly considered in the income tax return. These steps help minimise errors and ensure that the return filed is accurate and compliant."