Form 16 (or salary certificate in layman’s language) is a certificate issued by an employer to all his employees for a particular financial year at the end of the said year reflecting the total salary paid and amount of tax deducted (‘TDS’). For every salaried employee, TDS form (Form 16) is of utmost importance from income-tax point of view as it forms the base of his / her income-tax return. For more details visit us at www.taxfreemart.in

1. Form 16
Form 16 (or salary certificate in layman’s language) is a certificate issued by an employer to all his employees
for a particular financial year at the end of the said year reflecting the total salary paid and amount of tax
deducted (‘TDS’). For every salaried employee, TDS form (Form 16) is of utmost importance from income-tax
point of view as it forms the base of his / her income-tax return.
The objective of this article is to attract attention of all those salaried employees who have been issued or are
yet to receive their Form 16 for the financial year 2013-14. Following points are in this respect:
Contents of your Form 16 – Part A
Part A of your Form 16 will be the TDS certificate issued by your respective employer. It determines your total
amount paid to you during the year and amount of tax deducted and deposited by the employer in your name
with the Indian Government department. Form 16 as a certificate is valid only if it reflects all these following
details:
- Heading – Certificate under Section 203 of the IT Act 1961 for TDS on Salary (tax deducted at source on
salary)
- Certificate number
- Name and complete Address with your employer details also
- Your Permanent Account Number (‘PAN’) and that of your employer
- Tax Deduction Number (‘TAN’) of your employer
- Range of Commissioner of Income Tax (TDS) [‘CIT(TDS)’]
- Assessment Year (AY 2013-14 in this year’s certificate)
- Period for which the certificate belongs to (April 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013 in this certificate)
- Quarter wise details of amount of tax paid, receipt numbers of all the quarterly TDS returns filed by
employer, TDS amount deducted and deposited by employer in your name
- BSR code of the bank branch, date on which TDS deposited, Challan serial number related to each
amount of tax deposited by your employer
- Status of matching with Oltas – it should reflect as ‘F’ (indicating final). In case it reflects ‘U’ (unmatched),
inform your employer of same else appropriate credit shall not be available to you
- Verification details of the employer
- All the pages of Part A of Form 16 should have been digitally signed by your employer. If it is not a digitally
signed, same should have been at least manually signed by the employer
Contents of your Form 16 – Part B
Part B of Form 16 is usually Annexure to Form 16 Part A. It reflects detailed salary components, taxability and
total amount of tax payable by you for the year against which TDS has been deducted and deposited by
employer. Contents of Part B are as under:

2. - Gross Salary
- Exempted allowances under Section 10 of the Income Tax Act – conveyance allowance, HRA, medical
allowance, children education allowance and hostel expenditure allowance, etc
- Deductions allowable from the salary income – entertainment allowance and professional tax
- Total income chargeable under the head ‘Salaries’ based on the above figures
- Your any other income to be considered as taxable income, provided it is reported by you by your employer
- Tax saving deductions that you are eligible like PPF, LIC, Mediclaim, interest on education loan, etc
provided same is reported by you to the employer
- Tax on total income payable by you – This shall be the amount of TDS that the employer would have
deducted from salary. It is excess or short TDS may have deducted by employer. In this case, excess
amount should be claimed by you while filing your income tax return, whereas short amount to be paid by
you at the time of filing the return
- Verification details of the employer
- Digital / manual signature of the employer
Form 12BA
Form 12BA is a statement showing particulars of perquisites and any other fringe benefits or amenities and
profits in lieu of salary thereof granted by your employer to you during the year. Perquisites (or perks) are
additional monetary / non-monetary benefits that you may have been granted throughout the year like rent free
accommodation, interest free or concessional loans, etc. Profits in lieu of salary means any payment due to or
received by you from your employer in connection with or at the time of termination of employment or
modification in terms and conditions relating thereto like gratuity and pension. Form 12 BA also confirms
amount of tax deducted from your salary and paid into the Government Treasury by employer. Statement also
contains declaration from the employer that the figures stated in the form are correct and accurate as per their
books of accounts.
Annexure (salary details)
The last part of Form 16 consists of Annexure that provides summarized salary details for your reference
purposes bifurcating the same into exempt and taxable components.
Lastly, it determines the total tax payable, tax deducted and deposited by your employer and net tax payable /
refundable. it should be Nil. In case any figure reflects a refundable amount (represented by a (-) sign), it
does not mean that any employer is going to refund you any amount, so do not catch them for this purpose.
The said excess amount is to be claimed by you in your income tax return. In case of any payable situation
you are required to pay the balance tax amount while filing your return of income.
Considering the above, listed below are some FAQ’s on the discussed matter for your further assistance:
a) Basis your Form 16 prepared?
Form 16 is prepared on basis of your Cost to Company and declarations that you submit before your employer
with respect to your other income and / or tax saving investments.

3. b) When should you receive your Form 16 from your employer?
You should receive your Form 16 latest by May 31 of any subsequent year. Example Form 16 for FY 2013-14
should be received latest by May 31, 2014.
c) Is Form 16 replica of your tax-return?
It’s incorrect when you think that you have to only copy paste the stuff from your Form 16 into your income tax
return. If any income earned during the year which has not been reported to your employer (example Bank
interest), the same will not be reflected in your Form 16 but should form part of your income tax return.
Similarly, you would have made certain tax saving investments at the end of the year (in March) which would
not be reflected in Form 16. Benefit of same can be availed in your tax return even if not reflected in your
Form 16.
d) Should I submit my Form 16 at any point of time along with your tax return?
No form 16 should be attached unless your case is under scrutiny, in which case it will be required to be
produced before the tax officer.
e) Could you confirm amount of Tax Deducted at Source deposited by your employer in your name?
Yes by checking your Form 26AS available on website - www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.
f) How will the Gross Salary figure reflected in Form 16 represent?
It will be denoted as your total CTC (excluding employer’s contribution to provident fund, if any) plus perquisite
value and profit in lieu of salary as explained above.
Hope every salaried employee understand how Form 16 should appear and be smart enough to get it replaced
in case of any discrepancy.
Keyword - form 16
form 60, form 16 download, form 16 in excel format, form 16 in word format, income tax form 16, form 16
online, form 16 for ay 2013-14, form 16 kerala, from 26 as, TDS