How to use your Form 16 to e-file income tax returns

The Form 16 is an important document for people who do a job and earn a salary income. This document is a certificate that you get from your employer.

Look at it as a proof of employment and remuneration received. The Form 16 certifies that you have received salary from your employer for a particular period and your employer has deducted TDS--tax deducted at source--on the salary paid to you.

Salaried employees receive the Form 16 once a year, after a particular financial year has ended. If you changed jobs in the financial year, you would receive a Form 16 from each employer in the months of May or June.

The fuss about the Form 16:

Typically, a couple of months prior to the deadline to file income tax returns, you will hear a lot about the Form 16. This is because it is one of the most important tax forms and contains most of the information you would need to prepare and file your tax returns.

 Part A and Part B :

Your Form 16 has two parts. Part A has all the basic details about your employer, you and your employment period with the employer. Part B is critical because it has a detailed breakup of your salary and the tax-saving deductions that you have claimed by way of certain investments and expenses.

It is an employer’s responsibility to provide the Form 16 when there is tax deducted at source. If you haven’t received your Form 16, you should ask your employer for it. This is one document that cannot be downloaded online.

 E-filing using Form 16:

On the Income Tax Department’s website, you can e-file your tax returns using the information provided in your Form 16.

The information will have to be manually entered into the relevant fields and then submitted to get your returns filed.

On private tax-filing platforms like ClearTax, you have to just upload your Form 16 and the website will automatically prepare the returns for you. You can e-file without the Form 16 as well if you have all the required information on hand.

 The other Form 16 :

There’s also something like the Form 16A. While the Form 16 has details about your salary, Form 16A has details of tax deducted at source on other incomes. These other sources of incomes can be fixed deposits with banks, insurance commissions, house properties, etc.

The Form 16A is provided by the tax deductor and there will be as many Form 16As as there are deductors for you. For example, if you have fixed deposits with two different banks and TDS is deducted by both, the two banks will issue separate Form 16As to you.
 This is why the Form 16 is an integral document to be able to file your tax returns. You should file your returns even if your employer doesn’t issue a Form 16 after deducting TDS.

This is the employer’s mistake and they will face penalties for the same. It is your responsibility to file your tax returns when you earn income that is above the taxable limit and the Form 16 can help you do that with ease.

(The author is the Founder and CEO of ClearTax)