Form 16 and the new Form 130 explained

Updated 11 October 2026

Form 16 is the certificate your employer gives you once a year showing the salary paid to you and the tax deducted from it. Under the Income-tax Rules, 2026 it has been replaced by Form 130 for salary paid from 1 April 2026, which employers must issue by 15 June after the tax year. For salary of 2025-26, which falls under the old Act, employers issued the familiar Form 16 by 15 June 2026.

Which certificate for which year

The change is mostly a new number. The certificate is still generated from the employer's quarterly TDS statement (Form 138 now, Form 24Q earlier) and still has two parts. Pensioners get the same certificate from the bank or office that pays their pension.

Part A: who deducted, and how much was deposited

Part A identifies the employer and the employee:

• Employer's name, address, PAN and TAN (tax deduction account number).
• Your name and PAN, and the period you worked there during the year.
• In Form 16, a quarter-by-quarter summary of tax deducted and deposited against your PAN.

Check your PAN first. If it is wrong, the TDS will not show against your name and you cannot claim it.

Part B: how your tax was worked out

Part B reconciles what you were paid with the tax deducted. In Form 16 it typically shows:

• Gross salary, split into salary, perquisites and profits in lieu of salary.
• Exempt allowances such as HRA and LTA (old regime only).
• Standard deduction and, in the old regime, professional tax.
• Other income you reported to the employer, such as interest or a house property loss.
• Deductions such as 80C and 80D in the old regime, and the employer's NPS contribution.
• Taxable income, tax on it, rebate, surcharge, cess, relief on arrears and the net tax deducted.

The department's guidance describes Form 130 the same way: Part A for employer and employee details, Part B for a summary reconciliation of the amount paid and tax deducted. You can read the form and FAQs on the Income Tax Department's website.

Using it to file your return

1. Match the TDS with Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) on the e-filing portal. They should agree. See Form 26AS and AIS.
2. Add income the employer did not know about: savings and FD interest, rent, capital gains.
3. Claim deductions you did not declare in time (old regime), such as an 80C investment whose proof you missed submitting.
4. Choose your regime. Salaried people can pick a different regime in the return from the one used for TDS.
5. Pay any shortfall before filing, or claim the excess as a refund.

Common problems

• Two jobs in one year: you get a certificate from each employer. Add the salaries, claim the standard deduction only once, and expect to pay extra tax if both employers allowed the lower slabs or the rebate.
• Certificate not received: employers must issue it where tax was deducted. If yours does not, you can still file using payslips and the TDS shown in Form 26AS and AIS.
• TDS in the certificate but not in Form 26AS: the employer may have quoted a wrong PAN or not filed the quarterly statement. Ask them to correct it, as you can only claim TDS that appears against your PAN.
• No TDS deducted: if your income was within the rebate limit, there may be no certificate. That is normal.

Form 16A, the certificate for TDS on other payments such as FD interest, has also been renumbered under the 2026 Rules (reported as Form 131), so look for the new name from tax year 2026-27.

Next steps: how to file your ITR, which ITR form to use, and the income tax calculator to check your employer's figures.