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Form 16, decoded field by field.

Part A vs Part B, what each line means for your ITR, the common 26AS/AIS mismatches, the issuance deadline, and what the Income-tax Act 2025 changes about the form itself.

In one line
Form 16 is two documents stapled together: Part A is the department’s own record of what your employer deducted and deposited (generated from TRACES, hard to dispute), and Part B is the employer’s computation of your salary, exemptions, deductions and tax (worth checking line by line). Select a section below to see what each field means and where it can go wrong.
Part A — TDS summary (generated from TRACES)
Quarterly TDS deposit summary
A quarter-wise table of tax deducted and deposited — amount, the challan/BIN detail, and the date of deposit. Part A is auto-generated by the employer from the TRACES portal, not manually typed — so its numbers should already tie back to the government's own TDS records.
Receipt numbers of the TDS returns filed (Form 24Q)
Each quarter's Form 24Q (the employer's TDS return for salary payments) gets a receipt number on filing. Part A lists these — they are the audit trail from "employer deducted tax" to "employer told the department about it."
Summary of tax deducted
The total TDS figure at the bottom of Part A should equal what shows up against your PAN in Form 26AS / the Annual Information Statement (AIS) for the same employer and period. If it doesn't, that is the first thing to chase before filing.
Common 26AS / AIS mismatches
TDS amount differs from 26AS
Usually a late or unfiled TDS return by the employer for a quarter — the deduction happened (visible on your payslip) but has not yet been deposited/reported to TRACES. Chase the employer, don't just file with the mismatch.
AIS shows income Form 16 does not
AIS pulls from multiple reporting entities (banks, mutual funds, other deductors) beyond just your employer — a mismatch here is often other income, not a Form 16 error.
Employer name / TAN differs across two Form 16s (job change)
If you changed jobs mid-year, each employer issues its own Form 16 for the period they employed you — the two need to be combined manually for the ITR; neither one alone shows full-year income.
PAN mismatch blocks 26AS credit entirely
If the employer used an incorrect PAN in a TDS return, the deposit exists but never lands in your 26AS/AIS. This shows as "TDS deducted per Form 16 but missing from 26AS" and needs a correction (revised TDS return) from the employer's side.
Issuance deadline
Employers must issue Form 16 to employees by 15 June following the end of the financial year (e.g. Form 16 for FY 2025-26 is due by 15 June 2026) — the same date Part A generation and TDS return filing for Q4 needs to be complete. If you haven’t received it by then, that’s worth flagging to payroll before the ITR deadline gets tight.
Income-tax Act 2025 renumbering
The Income-tax Act, 2025 (effective 1 April 2026) renumbers sections and, per the department’s own form-mapping materials, some forms carry new numbers under the new Act. A specific successor number for Form 16 is being reported by several tax-content sites, but that has not been verifiably confirmed against the primary, current form list on the e-filing portal at the time of writing. Do not treat any specific number you see quoted elsewhere as settled — check the live e-filing utility / TRACES portal for the exact form identifier your employer is actually issuing for the relevant year.
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Form 16 is the visible tip of a much longer payroll compliance trail — CORAA keeps TDS computation, exemptions and deductions evidenced from the first payslip to the final certificate. payroll trail.

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How to read Form 16

Form 16 is the annual TDS certificate an employer issues under Section 203 of the Income-tax Act for tax deducted on salary. It has two parts with very different provenance. Part A is generated by the employer from the TRACES portal — it is effectively a printout of the department's own record of tax deducted and deposited against your PAN, quarter by quarter, tied to the employer's TAN and the TDS returns (Form 24Q) they filed. Because it comes straight from TRACES, Part A numbers should already agree with your Form 26AS / Annual Information Statement (AIS) for that employer.

Part B is different — it is the employer's own computation, prepared (not government-generated) to show how gross salary was reduced to taxable income: gross salary under Section 17(1), perquisites under 17(2), profits in lieu of salary under 17(3), Section 10 exemptions the employer processed (like HRA), the standard deduction, any Chapter VI-A deductions claimed through payroll, and finally tax computed under whichever regime the employer used for TDS. Because Part B is prepared by the employer based on what you declared, it is the part worth checking line by line against your own records — Part A is largely just confirming what the department already has on file.

Employers must issue Form 16 by 15 June following the financial year. If a return is filed using Form 16 numbers that don't match 26AS/AIS, the usual first step is confirming whether the TDS was actually deposited and reported (a Part A / 26AS issue on the employer's side) versus a computation difference in Part B (a discussion with payroll about what was declared and processed).

Common mistakes

Filing before reconciling Part A against 26AS/AIS
Part A should match 26AS/AIS for the same employer and period. A mismatch usually means a TDS return the employer hasn't filed yet for a quarter — chase it before filing rather than filing with a TDS claim the department's own records don't yet support.
Assuming Form 16 captures every exemption you're entitled to
Form 16 Part B only shows exemptions/deductions actually processed through payroll based on what you declared and proved during the year. Anything you plan to claim directly at return-filing time (that you never submitted proof for to payroll) will not appear on Form 16 at all — it still needs to be claimed in the ITR itself.
Treating the regime shown in Part B as locked in
The regime Form 16 reflects is what the employer used for TDS based on your declaration (or the default new regime if you gave none). For salary-only taxpayers, the regime can still be chosen differently at the time of filing the ITR, subject to the applicable switching rules — Form 16's regime isn't necessarily your final choice.
Not combining Form 16s after a mid-year job change
Each employer in a financial year issues its own Form 16 for the period of employment with them. Filing off only one of two (or more) Form 16s understates income and can trigger a mismatch notice once AIS/26AS shows the full picture.
Quoting an unconfirmed successor form number for Form 16
Under the Income-tax Act 2025's renumbering, several secondary sources report a new number for Form 16, but this was not verifiably confirmed from the primary form list at the time of writing. Verify against the current e-filing portal / TRACES before citing a specific successor number in any official communication.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Form 16 Part A and Part B?+
Part A is generated from the TRACES portal and is essentially the department's own record of TDS deducted and deposited against your PAN by that employer — TAN, quarterly deposit summary, TDS return receipt numbers. Part B is the employer's own computation showing the full salary breakup, exemptions, deductions, and the resulting tax — prepared by the employer, not government-generated.
By when must an employer issue Form 16?+
15 June following the end of the relevant financial year — e.g. Form 16 for FY 2025-26 is due to employees by 15 June 2026.
Why does my Form 16 TDS not match Form 26AS / AIS?+
Most commonly, the employer has deducted tax (reflected on payslips and in Form 16) but not yet filed the TDS return for a quarter, so it hasn't reached TRACES / 26AS / AIS yet. Less commonly, an incorrect PAN quoted in the TDS return prevents the credit from linking to your account at all — this needs a correction from the employer's side.
Can I change my tax regime at the time of filing even if Form 16 shows a different one?+
For salary-only taxpayers, yes — subject to the applicable rules for switching between the old and new regime at return-filing time. The regime shown in Form 16 reflects what the employer used for TDS purposes during the year, not a binding election for the return itself.
Does the Income-tax Act 2025 change Form 16?+
The Act renumbers sections generally (effective 1 April 2026), and the department's own form-mapping materials indicate some forms carry new identifiers under the new Act. A specific successor number for Form 16 is circulating on several tax-content sites, but it was not verifiably confirmed against the primary, current e-filing form list at the time of writing — check the live e-filing utility / TRACES portal rather than relying on an unconfirmed number.
I have two Form 16s from a job change this year — what do I do?+
Combine the salary, exemption, deduction and TDS figures from both when filing your ITR — each employer only reports for the period they employed you, so neither Form 16 alone reflects your full-year income.

Authoritative sources

Income-tax Act, 1961 — Section 203, Rule 31; TRACES (TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System) — Cross-check any Income-tax Act 2025 form-numbering claim against the live e-filing portal before treating it as final — several secondary sources report a successor number that is not yet verifiably confirmed from a primary source.
Always confirm against the latest version of the source. Regulations evolve and amendments are common.
Related calculators
Salary TDS (Sec 192) calculator →HRA exemption calculator →Full & final settlement calculator →Gratuity eligibility checker →Leave encashment calculator →
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-29 · For informational purposes only — not professional advice.