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Form 168 replaces Form 26AS from April 1, 2026 as the unified annual tax credit statement. Its entries use payment codes and Tax Year instead of sections and Assessment Year, requiring updated reconciliation workflows and mapping tables.
Download Form 168 for the relevant Tax Year from the Income Tax e-filing portal. Map each payment code to the corresponding legacy section code for cross-year comparison with FY 2025-26 records. Reconcile TDS receivable ledger entries to Form 168 by PAN, payment code, Tax Year, and amount.
Payment code mapping table covering sections 392 to 394. Tax Year conversion (AY 2026-27 becomes Tax Year 2025-26). Correction statement routing via the updated TRACES portal.
Reconciled Form 168 credits, classified variances by PAN error, payment code mismatch, not-yet-deposited, or timing gap, and correction request register for deductor follow-up.
From Tax Year 2025-26 onwards, the primary record of tax credits for every PAN in India is Form 168 — not Form 26AS. The Income Tax Act 2025 replaces the legacy tax credit statement with a single unified document that consolidates TDS, TCS, advance tax, refunds, and high-value transaction data into one schema. For finance teams that built quarterly reconciliation processes around Form 26AS, Form 168 requires a mapping exercise, an ERP configuration change, and a refreshed variance classification workflow.
What Form 168 Is
Form 168 is the new annual tax credit statement maintained by the Income Tax Department under the Income Tax Act 2025, effective April 1, 2026. It is linked to a taxpayer’s Permanent Account Number and aggregates every tax credit flowing to that PAN during a Tax Year. The statement carries forward the function of Form 26AS — confirming that a tax credit claimed in the return matches what has been deposited with the government — and extends it by folding in the transaction-level detail that previously lived in the separate Annual Information Statement.
Every entry in Form 168 references a payment code (1001 through 1092) drawn from Chapter XX of the new act. This replaces the legacy section code field that appeared against each entry in Form 26AS.
What Changes With Form 168
Unified schema
Form 168 merges the Parts A through F of Form 26AS with the transaction detail of the Annual Information Statement. A finance team that previously downloaded both statements and reconciled them separately now works off a single file. The schema covers salary TDS, non-salary TDS, TCS, advance tax, self-assessment tax, refunds, and high-value financial transactions in one view keyed to PAN and Tax Year.
Payment code in place of section code
Under the Income Tax Act 2025, every TDS payment carries a numeric payment code (1001, 1002, and so on) rather than a section code (194C, 194J, and so on). Form 168 entries reference the payment code. Any reconciliation system that matches on section code must add a dual-mode configuration — legacy code, payment code, or both during the cross-over year.
Tax Year labelling
Form 168 is labelled by Tax Year rather than Assessment Year. Tax Year 2025-26 corresponds to what was previously called Assessment Year 2026-27. Historical Form 26AS downloads retain the Assessment Year label; the two naming conventions run side by side during FY 2026-27 reconciliation cycles.
Form 168 vs Form 26AS at a Glance
| Attribute | Form 26AS (up to FY 2025-26) | Form 168 (from Tax Year 2025-26) |
|---|---|---|
| Effective from | FY 2008-09 | April 1, 2026 |
| Section reference | Legacy section code (194C, 194J, etc.) | Payment code (1001 to 1092) |
| Year label | Assessment Year | Tax Year |
| Transaction-level detail | Separate in AIS | Consolidated in Form 168 |
| Parts / structure | Parts A through F | Unified schema |
| Portal | TRACES + e-filing | e-filing (updated) |
India-Specific Reconciliation Considerations
For Indian enterprises, the cross-over year is the operational challenge. During Tax Year 2025-26, a TDS receivable booked in the ERP against a March 2026 invoice may settle under the legacy section code (194C) on Form 26AS, while the same vendor’s April 2026 invoice settles under payment code 1001 on Form 168. Reconciliation teams must run both code sets in parallel and maintain a mapping table that converts between them — a requirement that does not exist in any pre-2026 reconciliation playbook.
A structured TDS reconciliation software with dual-mode configuration (legacy, payment code, or both) removes the manual bridging work and produces variance classifications on either coding scheme. Broader reconciliation software India platforms integrate Form 168 alongside GSTR-2B, bank statement, and NACH data in one workflow. Download schemas and update notifications are published on the Income Tax India e-filing portal.
The FAQs below cover the most common Form 168 questions asked by finance managers planning for the April 2026 switchover.