What is Form 16? How to Download Part A & Part B of Form 16?

What is Form 16?

Form 16 is a certificate issued to salaried individuals by their employer that validates the TDS deducted and deposited to the Income tax authorities. Form 16 is an important document issued under provisions of the Income Tax Act of 1961. It has a detailed description of the salary paid to the employee and the TDS deducted from it .

Each salaried individual can obtain Form 16 from the employer on or before the 15th of June of the following year, immediately after the financial year in which the tax is deducted. If any employer delays or fails to issue Form 16 by the specified date, he is liable to pay a penalty of Rs.100 per day until the default continues.

Why is Form 16 required?

Form 16 is a very important document as it:

• Serves as proof that the government has received the tax deducted by your employer.
• Assists in the process of filing your income tax return with the Income Tax Department.
• Proof of Salary Income
• Many banks and financial institutions demand Form 16 to verify the person’s credentials while applying for loans.

When Will Form 16 Be Available For FY 2022-23?

The due date to issue Form 16 for FY 2022-23 is 15th June 2023, and if the employer has deducted TDS on the employee's salary from April '22 to March '23, then Form 16 must be issued by the employer on or before 15th June '23. If the employee loses their Form 16, they can request a duplicate copy from their employer. The employee can also download Form 26AS from the income tax e-filing portal, which contains details of the TDS deducted and deposited against their PAN. This can also serve as proof of the TDS deducted and deposited.

At Tax2win, you can simply upload Form 16 and file your ITR with ease.

Who issues Form 16?

Income Tax Law mandates the employer who deducts tax on an employee's salary to issue Form 16. So, If your tax is not being deducted, your employer can refuse to issue Form 16 to you.

How to download Form 16 online?

Part A of Form 16

This part of income tax form 16 covers employer, employee, and TDS payment details. It shows quarter-wise details of your tax deposited with the government. Some details are:

1. Name and Address of the employer.
2. PAN and TAN of the employer.
3. Name and Address of the employee
4. PAN of the employee
5. Summary of taxes deducted and deposited quarterly by the employer

Part B of Form 16

This part shows the detailed computation of Income, based on which tax is being calculated and deducted by your employer. It contains the breakup of the salary earned by you, various deductions, exemptions (if any), and the tax computation after considering all the items based on applicable tax slab rates. The details mentioned in Part B are as follows:

- Whether opting for Taxation under section 115 BAC: Yes or No
(for better understanding of 115 BAC, please refer to our guide on 115 BAC or click here)

A. Gross Salary(Column 1): This part of Form 16 requires details of salary as per provisions of section 17(1), perquisites and any profits received in lieu of salary u/s 17(2) &17(3) respectively.

B. Exemptions and allowances considered(Column 2): Earlier in this part of the form, combined information of all the exemptions under Section 10 was provided, but with the introduction of new Form 16, a list of allowances is provided, and the details are required to be filled. The list of allowances is as follows:

• Travel concession or assistance under section 10(5)
• Death-cum-retirement gratuity under section 10(10)
• Commuted value of pension under section 10(10A)
• Cash equivalent of leave salary encashment under section 10(10AA)
• House rent allowance under section 10(13A)
• Amount of any other exemption under section 10

C. Total Amount of Salary received from Current Employer (Column 3): This part of the form calculates the total salary received, including allowances and other perquisites.

D. Deductions under Section 16 (Column 4): All the deduction columns are mentioned below:

• Standard deduction under section 16(ia)
• Entertainment allowance under section 16(ii)
• Tax on employment under 16(iii)

E. Total amount of deduction under section 16 (5)

F. Income Chargeable under the head Income from Salaries (Column 6): This column shows the net income from salary after deduction of all the allowances and deductions.

G. Any other income declared by the employee as per section 192(2B) (Column 7): This column of the form enables the employee to declare any other income with the proof of the income like Income (or admissible loss) from the house property, Income under the head Other Sources offered for TDS.

H. Total amount of other income reported by the employee (Column 8): This column provides a total of all income earned by an employee other than salary.

I. Gross Total Income ( Column 9): This form column indicates the total income of employees reduced by the exemptions but before deduction under Chapter VI-A.

J. Deduction under Chapter VI-A (Column 10): Earlier, there was no separate list of deductions; an option was to disclose the section under which the deduction has been claimed. But in Form 16, disclosure of deductions is required as per a separate list.

K. Aggregate deductible amount under Chapter VI-A (Column 11): This column totals the deduction amount from all the sections under Chapter VI- A as claimed by the employee.

L. Total Taxable Income (Column 12): This column refers to the employee's net income after considering deductions under Chapter VI-A.This is the amount on which tax is calculated.

M. Tax on Total Income (Column 13): This column specifies the Tax amount as per the applicable tax slabs i on taxable income as per column 12.

N. Rebate under section 87A, if applicable (Column 14): This Column specifies the tax rebate, If the total income of a person doesn’t exceed Rs. 5,00,000/- then a tax rebate of 100% of the tax amount will be available to the person under this column subject to a maximum amount of Rs. 12,500/-.
As per Finance Act 2023 under the new regime if total income doesn’t exceed Rs. 7,00,000 then a tax rebate of 100% of the tax amount will be available.

O. Surcharge, wherever applicable (Column 15): This column refers to the additional tax in the form of a surcharge applicable if income exceeds a certain prescribed limit (currently 50 lac,1cr, 2cr, and 5cr).

P. Health and Education Cess (Column 16): This column is introduced in the new Form 16.

Q. Tax payable (Column 17): This column is calculated as 13+15+16-14.

R. Relief under section 89 (Column 18): This column refers to any relief allowed against the arrear of salary received in the previous year.

S. Net tax payable (Column 19)

Steps to download Form 16 from TRACES

Generating Form 16 Part A from TRACES

Step 1. Login into the TRACES website (www.tdscpc.gov.in) by entering a User ID, Password, TAN of the deductor, and the verification code

Step 2. Check the status of your TDS return 24Q for which you want to generate Form 16-Part A. Request for Form 16-Part A will only be submitted when the statement status is either "Processed with Default." or "Processed without Default" To check the statement status, you have to go through a tab named statement status placed directly under Statement/Payment Tab and select the form type and Financial Year.

Step 3. Click on the Form 16 option in Download Tab

Step4. Select the financial year for which you want to download Form 16 Part A and select any one download option out of “Search PAN Download” or “Bulk PAN download”.
*Search PAN Download is to download Form 16 Part A for selected valid PAN holders
*Bulk PAN Download is to Download Form 16 Part A for all eligible PAN holders for the financial year.

Step 5. Details of Authorised Persons to be printed on Form 16-Part A will appear on the screen, you just have to click “Submit” to proceed further. In case you want any changes, click “Cancel” and update the details from the profile section.

Step 6: Now fill the KYC details by selecting one of the options from Digital Supported KYC or Normal KYC validation
*Digital Supported KYC is valid only when the deductor has a valid digital signature registered with TRACES.
*Normal KYC validation can opt in the case a digital signature is not registered with TRACES.
After providing the correct KYC details, an authentication code will be generated, which will be valid for the same calendar day, for the same financial year, same Form Type, and same Quarter.

Step 7. One unique request number will be generated which can be used to track the status of the request. Moreover, Form 16-Part A can only be downloaded when the status is ‘Available”.

Step 8. Form 16 Part-A can now be downloaded from the Download >> Requested Download, using HTTP Download or Download Manager.

Step 9. Select the download type depending on the number of files you need to download
*HTTP download for a small number of files, a Download Manager for a large number of files.

Step 10. Download Form 16 PDF converter utility 1.4L if you want to convert Form 16-Part A into PDF format.

Step 11. Run the setup of Form 16 PDF converter utility 1.4L in order to generate Form 16-Part A in PDF format.

Generating Form 16 Part B from TRACES

Log on to TRACES (TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System) website. The URL for TRACES is https://www.tdscpc.gov.in.

If you are accessing the website for the first time, you will need to register an account. Provide all the required details for registration.

The details you submit during registration will be validated, and your account will be created. Your PAN number will be used as your username, and you can choose a password of your choice.

An activation link will be sent to your registered email address. You will also receive an activation code on your registered mobile number. Use these to activate your account.

Once your account is activated, log in to TRACES using your PAN and password.

In the download section of TRACES, locate and select "Form 16B for Buyer."

Provide the assessment year, PAN number, and acknowledgement number of the seller. This information is required to generate Form 16B.

After submitting the necessary details, Form 16B will be made available for download in the Downloads section of TRACES.

Download the Form 16B and print it out.

Sign the printed form and deliver it to the buyer.

The buyer can also refer to their Form 26AS, which is a consolidated statement of total TDS deducted. It includes details reflected in Form 16, Form 16A, and Form 16B, providing a comprehensive overview of TDS deductions.

What are the eligibility Criteria for Form 16?

Every salaried employee whose income falls under the taxable band is eligible for Form 16 according to regulations released by the Indian Government's Finance Ministry.

If an employee's income does not fall within the taxable band, Tax Deducted at Source is not required to deduct. As a result, in certain situations, the employer is not required to give Form 16 to the employee.

However, many organizations now provide this certificate to employees as a good work practice because it contains a consolidated picture of the individual's earnings and has other applications.

How do I get Form 16?

Your employer issues form 16, and you can expect it by the end of 15th June. But if it’s not issued by the end of 15th June, you may demand it from your employer. Generally, the accounts or HR department issues Form 16.

In case, If any person doesn’t receive his Form 16 and has got his TDS deducted, then he/she may intimate the same to the Jurisdictional A.O., who may take appropriate action for same and, if finds an employer is guilty, then carry out other further proceedings including levy of penalty.

If you do not have Form 16, you can still file your income tax return by referring to your salary slips, bank statements, and Form 26AS. Form 26AS is a consolidated tax credit statement that contains details of TDS deducted on various incomes, including salary, and deposited with the government by the deductor. You can download Form 26AS from the income tax e-filing portal or your net banking account.

I haven’t received any Form 16 from my employer; do I still need to file my income tax return?

If your Gross Total Income exceeds 2,50,000, filing an income tax return is mandatory. Your employer can issue form 16 only when he has deducted tax from your salary. If your employer does not deduct tax and your income exceeds the specified limit, then even if you don’t have Form 16, you are required to file your income tax returns.

There are various other conditions also, other than income above 2,50,000, due to which a person would be mandatorily required to file ITR, Major those are

1. Deposit of more than 100 lac in one or more current accounts during the year.
2. Incurred expenditure of more than two lacs on foreign travel.
3. Incurred expenditure of more than 1 lac on electricity

I haven’t received Form 16; how do I calculate my Salary Income?

If you haven’t received a Form 16, then for the purpose of return filing, you will have to refer to your salary payslips, bank statements, tax-saving investment proofs, home loan certificates,education loan certificates, and Form 26AS, etc for filing income tax returns. While payslips contain details of your income, like basic salary and allowances, Form 26AS contains the details of all your tax deducted and taxes paid.

The Form 26 AS can be viewed/downloaded from the Income Tax Department’s online portal i.e., https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal

For example,
Ms. Tania was working with XYZ Ltd. and she didn’t receive any Form 16. In such a case, she consulted experts and they calculated the income on the basis of her monthly payslips which showed a basic salary of Rs. 30,000 per month. It also had details of transport allowance of Rs. 2,000 per month. Further, she had her home loan certificate, because of which she was allowed a deduction of Rs. 50,000 from her income. Hence, the final calculated income of Ms. Tania would be calculated as follows:
Basic Salary = 30,000 x 12 months = 3,60,000
Transport allowance = 2,000 x 12 months = 24,000 is taxable.
Hence, the Taxable Income [after deducting the basic exemption limit] of Ms. Tania will be Rs.34000 (3,60,000 + 24000 – 2,50,000 (basic exemption) – 50,000 Standard deductions -50,000 deduction for a home loan).

My employer has deducted tax from my salary, but neither he issued me a Form 16 nor my Form 26AS shows any such deduction entries.

In such a case, it may be possible that your employer has deducted the tax from your salary but has not deposited the same to the credit of the Government account. You have to pay the full amount of tax while filing your income tax return. Also, you should immediately bring this matter or default to your employer's notice.

Further, the employee should intimate the same to the Jurisdictional A.O. who may take appropriate action for the same and if found employer guilty then carry out other further proceedings including levy of penalty.

(As per Gujrat high court decision on 30/11/2021 in the case of Kartik Vijaysinh Sonavane v. DCIT - [2021], it was held that TDS benefit would be given to the employee even in case TDS has not been deposited by the employer)

Need a CA to bail you out of this situation? Connect Now.

I want to claim a deduction under Chapter VI-A / other exemptions/allowances in my income tax return which is not in my Form 16? Can I do it?

In a case where your employer issues you a Form 16 without any deductions, you can still claim the deduction while filing your income tax return. Form 16 is just a certificate issued by your employer that certifies the deduction of tax (TDS) on your salary. It’s just a base document for return filing, not the final return itself. You can always benefit from the deductions you are eligible for while filing your income tax return, even if the same is not mentioned in your Form 16.

Have trouble filing your income tax return? Just click here!

Salary arrears received but not shown in From 16, what to do?

If you have received salary arrears, but the arrears are not shown in Form 16, then also you can show your arrears in the income tax return. All you require is all the details of salary in arrears and Form 10E, which is required to claim relief on salary arrears under section 89(1).

My Form 16 is incorrect; what should I do?

In case, where a Form 16 is duly issued but with a mistake, then the same can be rectified by your employer on your request. Subsequently, a revised Form 16 will be issued to you by your employer.

Is Form 26AS different from Form 16?

Is the Income Tax Return and Form 16 the same?

No, a Form 16 is not equivalent to an Income Tax Return but it’s the source document for your salary income. It is really helpful, especially in case your entire income is from salary and there is no other source of income. Further, you don’t need to attach your Form 16 with your income tax return.

I switched my job during the year; how should I file my ITRn now?

In case, you had two employers for the year, you will get Form 16 from both employers for the respective months served by you. The income tax return will be filed by combining the details of both Form 16’s. But you must be careful in doing so because it might happen that your former and present employer has calculated your tax after taking into consideration the basic exemption limit. In such a case, you are not entitled to take the benefit of the exemption limit twice.

The same applies to all deductions and allowances during the year, as any deduction/allowance can be claimed only once or as per the respective rules of the income tax law even if it is reflected in both Form 16.

For example, In the year 2022-23, you worked with a company X Pvt. Ltd. for a period of 6 months for a salary of Rs. 45,000 per month and for the rest 6 months you joined Y Ltd. for Rs. 50,000 per month. In such a case, you draw a salary of Rs. 2,70,000 from X Pvt. Ltd. and Rs. 3,00,000 from Y Ltd. Now, both the companies X Pvt. Ltd. and Y Ltd. will deduct your taxes after considering basic exemption limit (i.e. Rs. 2,50,000/-) only and your Form 16 will be based on the same.

This means X Pvt. Ltd. will charge tax on the balance of Rs 20,000 and Y Ltd. will charge tax on Rs. 50,000, each giving you an exemption of Rs. 2,50,000. But, at the time of filing your final return for the year, you will be allowed the basic exemption only once and not twice i.e., your tax should be charged on Rs.3,20,000. (Rs. 300000 + 270000 – 250000).

Further, when you switch jobs in a year, then you should furnish your previous employer’s income and TDS details to your new employer in Form 12B.

Is Form 16 different from Form 60?

Form 60 is a declaration made by individuals who do not have a PAN, whereas Form 16 means an income certificate issued by the employer to an employee.

Is Form 16 B is same as Part B of Form 16?

Form 16B is a certificate of tax deducted on the sale of the property. In contrast, Part B of income tax form 16 consists of all the details of salary breakup, deduction, and taxes paid by an employer on behalf of employees.