Do I file AIS and TIS, or does the department produce them?
The department produces them. They are built from what third parties report about you, including banks, brokers, registrars and other institutions, and assembled against your Indian identifier. There is nothing to submit and no deadline of your own attached to either. The statement is the detail of those reports; the summary sits above it and rolls the same material up into the categories a return is built from. Your part is to read both before you file, and to make sure the return you do file can be reconciled to them. Treat them as the department's opening view of your Indian year.
My AIS shows a property sale I did not make, how do I correct it?
Start with the institution that reported it, because the entry is theirs rather than the department's. Registrars, banks and brokers report transactions automatically, and the usual causes of an entry you do not recognise are a joint holding attributed wholly to one person, an identifier keyed wrongly, or a transaction reported in the wrong year. Work out which of those it is, gather the document that proves the real position, whether that is the deed, the account opening record or the contract note, and take it up with the reporter. Then make sure your return is consistent with the position you are asserting.
I am an NRI with only bank interest in India, will I appear in AIS?
Yes. Reporting is done by the institution, not by you, and it does not turn on whether you are resident or on whether there is tax to pay. Interest credited on an Indian account, deduction taken from it, a deposit renewed, units redeemed, a property registered: these are reported as a matter of course and they appear against your identifier. That matters for two reasons. The department has a view of your Indian year whether or not you file, and a nil position is something you may need to be able to show rather than simply assume.
What is the difference between AIS and TIS?
One is the detail and the other is the summary. The annual information statement lists what each institution reported, transaction by transaction and source by source. The summary sits on top of it and groups the same material into the categories a return is built from. They are not independent sources, so a difference between them usually says something about how the detail has been aggregated, such as a transaction reported by both parties to it, or an amount counted under a heading you would not have chosen. Reconcile against the detail, and use the summary to check you have missed no category.
Should my return match AIS exactly before I file it?
It should be reconcilable to it, which is not the same thing. Institutions report gross amounts as they see them, so sale proceeds appear without the cost that produced the gain, and a single transaction can be reported by each side of it. A return that simply copied the statement would often be wrong. What you want is to be able to explain every difference: this amount is proceeds and here is the cost, this entry is duplicated, this one belongs to a joint holder. A return that contradicts the statement with nothing behind the difference is what draws an enquiry.
Does AIS include my Indian mutual fund and share sales?
Redemptions and securities transactions are among the things intermediaries report, so they typically show up, and they show up as proceeds. That is the part people misread. Proceeds are not gain, and a statement showing a large redemption says nothing about what the units cost you or how long you held them. The reconciliation is to match each reported transaction to your own contract notes and acquisition records, then carry the gain into the return with the cost documented. If the holding was joint, check which holder the intermediary reported it against before you file.
Is the sale of foreign property taxable where I live?
For a resident, yes — worldwide gains are taxable, and the gain is computed in your own currency, so the exchange rate at purchase and at sale changes the number even when the local-currency price did not move. The country where the property sits usually taxes it too, often with a withholding or clearance step before closing, and that tax becomes a credit. A principal residence relief may apply to a home abroad on the same terms as one at home. See principal residence and foreign property.
What is a totalization agreement and how do I use one?
A social security agreement that stops you contributing to two systems for the same work, and lets periods in both count towards benefit eligibility in either. Which system you stay in depends on the agreement's rules for your situation — a seconded employee usually remains in the home system for a set period, a locally hired one usually joins the host system. You evidence it with a certificate of coverage obtained before or shortly after the assignment starts. See certificates of coverage.
