When will salaried employees get Form 16 to file income tax return for FY 2024-25 (AY 2025-26)?

Time of India

29-05-2025

Many
salaried employees
are waiting to receive Form 16, a TDS Certificate, from their employer.
Form 16
is an important
TDS certificate
that contains details of the salary income paid to the employee during the financial year, tax regime opted for tax deduction at source, and deductions and exemptions that the employee has claimed from the salary income (depending on the tax regime). The certificate, of course, contains details of the TDS from the salary, which is one of the main reasons it is needed for filing one's
Income Tax Return
(ITR).
ET Wealth Online tells you when you can expect to get Form 16, what to check in it, and what to do if you do not get it.
Is there a last date for employers to issue Form 16 to salaried employees?
According to income tax rules, employers must file their e-TDS return for the January-March quarter of a financial year, latest by May 31 of the next FY. Once the e-TDS return is filed, the tax deductor is required to issue the TDS certificate within 15 days of filing the eTDS return, i.e. latest by June 15.
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Shubham Jain, Associate Director, Nangia Andersen India - a tax consulting firm, says, "Form 16 is a certificate of tax deducted at source by the employer on behalf of the employee. In cases where an employer deducts tax at source on salaries, it is mandatory to issue Form 16 by June 15. Failure to issue Form 16 in a timely manner attracts a penalty of Rs 500 per day for each day of default. The maximum penalty can be up to the amount of TDS deducted by the employer. The employer is required to deposit the penalty amount directly into the credit of the Central Government. The penalty is a cost to the employer but not really available for claim by the employee."
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Can you file ITR without Form 16?
Filing income tax return with Form 16 is easier. However, a taxpayer can file income tax return without having Form 16. If you do not have Form 16, then you must collect and rely on other documents for information/proof such as salary slips, Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Form 26AS to file income tax return.
Can you download Form 16 from the Income Tax Department's website using PAN?
A salaried employee cannot download Form 16 from the Income Tax Department's website, either by using his/her PAN or the deductor's PAN. Only the deductor can issue Form 16 to the employee or the deductee. The deductor can also issue the Form 16 only after downloading it from the TRACES portal.
To put it simply, Form 16 of all employees of a single employer is generated from and only after the e-TDS return is filed by the employer. This is because the information in the Form 16 is sourced from the e-TDS return filed by the employer.
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Who will get Form 16 from their employer?
An employer will issue Form 16 to its employee if the former has deducted tax on the salary income paid to the employee. As per the income tax rules applicable for FY 2024-25 (between April 1, 2024, and March 31, 2025), zero tax is payable under the new tax regime if taxable income does not exceed Rs 7 lakh. Similarly, if the taxable income does not exceed Rs 5 lakh, then no tax will be deducted by the employer if the employee has opted for the old tax regime for FY 2024-25.
Hence, depending on your net taxable salary and tax regime chosen by you, if there is no tax deducted by the employer, then it may not issue Form 16 to you.
Jain says, "Form 16 is a certificate showing TDS deducted by the employer; accordingly, in case no tax is required to be deducted because of low salary, issuance of Form 16 by the employer is also not mandatory. Thus, though legally not required, an employer may still choose to issue a NIL TDS Form 16 to the employee."
What to check in Form 16 and other TDS certificates
An employee should check certain things in the Form 16 received. There are two parts of Form 16 - Part A and Part B. Part A of Form 16 contains details of the employee and employer, such as name, address, PAN, TAN, etc., and tax deducted in the four quarters of the financial year. Part B of Form 16 contains details of the total income paid by the employer to the employee during the financial year. It also contains the tax regime opted for, deducting tax on salary during the financial year, deductions and exemptions that are claimed, as per the tax regime.
Both parts of Form 16 will have the TRACES logo if they have been downloaded from that site, which is a legal requirement.
What is the password to open Form 16?
Form 16 is usually, but not always, a password-protected file. The password can be your PAN (in lower or uppercase), your date of birth (DD/MM/YY), or a combination of PAN (lower or uppercase) and date of birth. You should check your email to see if Form 16 is password protected and what the password is.
Can you have two Form 16s for a single financial year?
Yes, a salaried employee can have two or more Form 16s in a single financial year. This will happen if you have switched jobs during the relevant financial year. In such a case, each employer would issue you a separate Form 16 for the time period that you worked with that employer.