What to Do If FD Interest Is Not Reflecting in Form 26AS

You checked your Form 26AS, scrolled through it twice, and your fixed deposit interest is nowhere. If you are asking what is fixed deposit in India's tax reporting system, the answer is simple. Your bank must report the interest paid to you, deduct TDS where rules apply, and push that data to the tax department. When one of those steps breaks, your entry goes missing.

This is fixable. You just need to find where the chain broke, then push the right person to correct it.

Why your FD interest is missing from Form 26AS

The usual cause is a PAN mismatch. If your PAN is not linked to the FD, or the bank has the wrong PAN on file, the interest gets reported against no taxpayer. It lands nowhere.

The second common cause is timing. Banks file quarterly TDS returns. If you check 26AS right after a quarter ends, the data may not be uploaded yet. Wait 15 to 30 days after the quarter closes before raising an alarm.

The third cause is the TDS threshold. Under Section 194A, banks deduct TDS only when FD interest in a financial year crosses 40,000 rupees per bank for most customers, and 50,000 rupees for senior citizens. Below that, no TDS is cut and the entry may not appear in 26AS at all. It will still show in your AIS though.

A fourth cause is a branch merger or account migration. When banks merge, old FDs sometimes get re-booked under a new branch code, and the PAN linkage breaks for a quarter or two. Corporation and co-operative banks are the usual suspects.

Diagnose the problem in 5 steps

1. Open AIS (Annual Information Statement) on the income tax portal. Check if the interest shows there. AIS is wider than 26AS and captures non-TDS interest too.
2. Call your bank and ask them to confirm the PAN linked to the FD. Ask for the TDS certificate, which is Form 16A, for the relevant quarter.
3. Match the quarter. Interest for Jan-March is reported only by mid-May. Do not panic in April.
4. Check if you submitted Form 15G or Form 15H. If you did, no TDS was deducted. The bank may still report the interest, but timing and accuracy can vary.
5. Look at your FD advice or online FD summary. It will show the interest credited for the year, gross of TDS. That is the number that should flow to 26AS or AIS.

Fix the mismatch: a step-by-step repair

Once you know the cause, the fix is direct.

1. Wrong PAN on FD: Visit your branch with a PAN copy and FD receipt. Ask them to update KYC and re-file the TDS return with the correct PAN. Banks can file a correction TDS return, known as a 26Q revision, within the same financial year.
2. PAN not linked to the account: Complete re-KYC with the bank. Without PAN linking, TDS is cut at 20 percent instead of 10 percent under Section 206AA, and nothing flows to your 26AS.
3. Bank did not file the TDS return: Rare, but it happens with small co-operative banks. Push them in writing. Quote their obligation under Section 200 of the Income Tax Act and threaten to file a grievance.
4. Entry is in AIS but not 26AS: This means no TDS was deducted because interest fell below the threshold. You still have to declare the interest in your ITR under Income from Other Sources. Use the AIS figure, not a guess.
5. Aadhaar-PAN not linked: Since July 2023, an inactive PAN behaves like no PAN. Link them first at the income tax portal, then push the bank to re-file.

Always ask the bank for Form 16A in writing. It is your proof that TDS was deducted. If 16A shows a deduction but 26AS does not, the bank has filed it wrong and must correct it at their cost, not yours.

What if your ITR is due and the entry is still missing?

Do not wait. File the ITR with the correct interest figure from your bank passbook or FD statement. Claim TDS credit using the 16A certificate even if 26AS shows nothing yet. The tax portal allows you to flag a mismatch and attach proof. If the bank later corrects the return, your credit gets auto-matched.

Do not hide the interest just because 26AS is blank. The AIS feed will flag it, and you will get a mismatch notice later.

Prevent this from happening next year

Prevention is mostly about getting your PAN linked and your paperwork clean at FD opening.

• Link your PAN and Aadhaar to every bank account you hold. Do it once, properly, and verify it online.
• Submit Form 15G if your total taxable income is below the basic exemption limit and you are under 60. Submit Form 15H if you are 60 or older. File these in April each year, at every bank where you hold FDs.
• Cross-check AIS and 26AS every quarter. Do not wait till July when you file ITR.
• Keep your email and mobile updated with the bank so TDS certificates reach you on time.
• If you hold FDs at multiple banks, remember the 40,000 rupee threshold is per bank, not total. Interest can add up across banks without any TDS being cut. You must still report all of it in your ITR.

When to escalate

If the bank refuses to correct the TDS return even after you have shown Form 16A, file a grievance on the income tax portal under e-Nivaran. You can also raise it with the RBI banking ombudsman. Most cases resolve within 30 days of a written complaint.

For the official rules on TDS, FD interest, and AIS, see the Income Tax Department portal.

Missing FD interest in 26AS is almost always a paperwork glitch, not a scam. Trace it to PAN, threshold, timing, or a branch migration. Fix it once, and it stops repeating every year.