Section 285BB — Annual information statement

CHAPTER XXIII — MISCELLANEOUS

Section 285BB — Annual information statement

Case Laws & Commentary — Income-tax Act, 1961 (as amended by the Finance Act, 2026) — bharattax.co Treatise

Status: Live for the years governed by the 1961 Act. Inserted by the Finance Act, 2020 with effect from 1 June 2020, in place of s.203AA, which was omitted from the same date. Obliges the Department to upload an annual information statement to the assessee's registered e-filing account.

Finance Act, 2026: No amendment. The Finance Act, 2026 does not touch section 285BB or its 2025 counterpart, s.510.

Nature / mechanism: An enabling provision: the form, manner, time and content of the statement are left to the Rules (rule 114-I of the Income-tax Rules, 1962; rule 245 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026).

A. COMMENTARY

What the section requires

Section 285BB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 places the obligation on the Department, not on the assessee. The prescribed income-tax authority, or a person it authorises, must upload to the assessee's registered account an annual information statement, in the prescribed form and manner and within the prescribed time, containing such information in the possession of an income-tax authority as may be prescribed. The "registered account" is the electronic filing account registered by the assessee on the web portal designated by that authority (Explanation). The section was inserted by the Finance Act, 2020 with effect from 1 June 2020; on the same date s.203AA, under which Form 26AS had been a statement of tax deducted at source, was omitted.

Rule 114-I of the Income-tax Rules, 1962

Rule 114-I, inserted by the Income-tax (11th Amendment) Rules, 2020 with effect from 1 June 2020 in place of rule 31AB, prescribes the statement as Form No. 26AS. The Director General of Income-tax (Systems), or a person authorised by him, uploads it within three months from the end of the month in which the information is received. It covers tax deducted or collected at source, specified financial transactions, payment of taxes, demand and refund, and pending and completed proceedings, and the Board may authorise other information, including information received from other authorities or under a tax treaty.

The 2025 counterpart: s.510 and rule 245

Section 510 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 reproduces s.285BB, with the definition of "registered account" moved into s.510(2). Rule 245 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 prescribes the statement as Form No. 168. It must be uploaded within ninety days from the end of the month in which the information is received, and it covers the same heads: tax deducted or collected at source, specified financial transactions, payment of taxes, demand and refund, pending and completed proceedings, and any other information the Board authorises under rule 245(2), including information received under an agreement referred to in s.159 of the 2025 Act.

Form 26AS and the AIS

The statute and the Rules speak of a single annual information statement. On the e-filing portal the Department presents it in two views. Form 26AS shows tax deducted or collected at source, tax payments and certain high-value transactions such as property purchases and investments. The Annual Information Statement (AIS), which the Department describes as an extension of Form 26AS, adds information such as savings bank and deposit interest, dividends, rent received, purchases and sales of securities and immovable property, foreign remittances and GST turnover. In the AIS the assessee can give feedback on each item, and the AIS shows the value as reported and as modified by that feedback. The Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS) aggregates the AIS by category, and its derived values are used to pre-fill the return.

C. AUTHORITIES

No reported judgment construing section 285BB has been verified for this page. The sources below are statutory.

Position (statutory) — the statement is the Department's upload, not the assessee's filing

Position Section 285BB of the 1961 Act and s.510 of the 2025 Act impose the duty on the prescribed income-tax authority; the content and timing come from rule 114-I of the Income-tax Rules, 1962 and rule 245 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026.

Source Income-tax Act, 1961, s.285BB; Income-tax Act, 2025, s.510; Income-tax Rules, 2026, rule 245; Income-tax Department, FAQs on the Annual Information Statement.