Form 16 Download from TRACES: Employer Steps and What Employees Should Do (2026)
Only your employer can download Form 16 from TRACES. Here is the employer process, what employees can do when Form 16 is late, and what changes with the new Form 130.
Official portal: TRACES (TDS CPC)
Indus Tax is a private CA firm, not affiliated with the Government of India. This guide explains the official process; we never ask for your portal password.
Who downloads Form 16
Form 16 is the TDS certificate for salary. Only the employer (the deductor) can download it from TRACES at tdscpc.gov.in, after filing the quarterly TDS return. Employees cannot download their own Form 16 from TRACES — it comes from the employer, by 15 June after the financial year.
Form 16 Part A and Part B
Form 16 has two parts:
| Part | Contains | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Part A | Employer TAN and PAN, employee PAN, and quarter-wise TDS deducted and deposited | Downloaded from TRACES, with a unique certificate number |
| Part B | Salary break-up, exemptions, deductions and tax computation | Prepared by the employer |
Employer steps to download Form 16 or 16A from TRACES
TRACES verifies the deductor before releasing certificates:
- 1Log in to TRACES as a deductor with your TAN, user ID and password.
- 2Go to Downloads > Form 16 (salary) or Form 16A (non-salary TDS).
- 3Select the financial year and choose bulk download or search by employee PAN, then submit.
- 4Complete the KYC check with details from a filed TDS statement — token number, challan and PAN-amount details.
- 5Track the request under Downloads > Requested Downloads and download the file when it is ready.
- 6Convert it into signed PDF certificates with the TRACES PDF generation utility and issue them to employees.
Employee: Form 16 missing or late?
You are not stuck without it:
- Ask HR or payroll — many employers publish Form 16 on their HR portal
- Check salary TDS in Form 26AS and AIS on the e-filing portal; it appears once the employer files the TDS return
- You can file your ITR using payslips, Form 26AS and AIS even without Form 16
- An employer that fails to issue Form 16 can face a penalty of ₹100 for every day of default
Form 16 becomes Form 130
Under the Income-tax Rules, 2026, Form 16 is renumbered Form 130 and Form 16A becomes Form 131 for tax years from 2026-27. Certificates for FY 2025-26 salary, issued by June 2026, may still carry the Form 16 name.
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