What is the Password for TDS Form 16 and How to Open Form 16 Password?

What is Form 16?

The employer provides form 16 to employees which contains the TDS deducted information along with many other information such as salary income, investment declaration, deduction allowed, and other information of the employer and employees. Form 16 comes in two parts, Part A and Part B. Form 16 is a crucial document for salaried individuals and is required at the time of filing Income Tax Returns.

How to Get Form 16?

If you haven’t received Form 16, you can ask for it from your current employer or the previous employer if you have switched employment in the middle of the financial year or if you have left your current employer.

Note: No employer can deny providing you with Form 16 if he has deducted any TDS from your salary.

How to Download Form 16?

Step-by-step guide on how to download Form 16 online:

• Go to the TRACES portal of the Income Tax Department.
• Log in using your User ID, PAN details, and password. Enter the captcha code.
• After logging in TRACES portal, click on the 'Downloads' tab and select 'Form 16'.
• Choose the relevant assessment year for which you need Form 16.
• Verify your name and PAN details to ensure they are correct.
• Enter the TDS receipt number.
• Select the date of TDS deduction and enter the total tax collected and deducted.
• Submit Form 16 for download.
• Under the 'Downloads' tab, click on 'Requested Downloads.'
• Once the status of Form 16 Part A and Part B shows as 'Available', you can download the files in PDF or HTTP format.

Why Is the Form 16 PDF Password Protected?

Form 16 is a crucial tax document issued by employers to salaried employees, containing sensitive financial information such as PAN, salary details, TDS deducted, and more. To protect this confidential data, employers often issue Form 16 as a password-protected PDF.

What is Form 16 Password, and How to Open it?

Form 16 is a Tax deducted at source certificate and password-protected. Decoding Form 16 password is easy and simple; the password of Form 16 is generated using the employee's basic details. The Form 16 password is a combination of the first five characters of your PAN number in capital letters and your date of birth in the format of DDMMYYYY. For instance, if your PAN number is CMDPP1234B and your date of birth is March 16, 1994, then the password for your Form 16 would be CMDPP16031994. However, it is important to note that Form 16 passwords can vary from one organisation to the other. Therefore, taxpayers should check their email for the correct password format to open their Form 16.

Whether Form 16 or not, you can still file your ITR smoothly and accurately with Tax2win. Filing for FY 2024-25 has already started, file today and claim your refund.

How to Remove the Form 16 Password?

Entering the password every time you open Form 16 or any password-protected PDF file could be unpleasant, i.e., saving Form 16 or any PDF file without a password could save time and effort. The password can be removed from a PDF file following these steps:

• Right-click on the Form 16 PDF file and open it using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
• Enter the password in the specified format and click on the submit button.
• Once the PDF file is open, you will see the printer option in the upper right corner of the screen. Click on the printer option or use the shortcut Ctrl + P.
• The print window will appear, providing an option to change the destination.
• Change the destination to "Save as PDF."
• Click on the "Save" button below and choose the desired location to save the PDF file.
• the password will be removed from the Form 16 document by saving the file as a PDF.

However, it is important to note that removing the password can change the format of the file and render it unreadable in different software.

New Income Tax Forms (Effective April 2026)