Form 16 Part A vs Part B: What Each Shows and How to Get It

Form 16 has two parts. Part A is the TRACES-generated summary of the tax your employer deducted and deposited, and Part B is the annexure showing your full salary breakup, exemptions and deductions. You get both from your employer, not from the tax portal yourself, and you should reconcile both against your Form 26AS before filing your return.

Form 16 is the TDS certificate for salary income. It is issued under section 203 of the Income-tax Act, 1961, and the format is set by Rule 31 of the Income-tax Rules, 1962. The Central Board of Direct Taxes split it into two parts so the tax-deposit record and the salary computation stay clearly separated.

Part A is the authenticated record of tax. The Income-tax Department links it to the deposits your employer made against your PAN, so it must come straight from TRACES and carries a unique TDS certificate number. Part B is the working that shows how your taxable salary and final tax were calculated.

This article covers the return being filed now, which is for assessment year 2026-27 (financial year 2025-26) under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The Income-tax Act, 2025 takes effect from 1 April 2026 and renames several forms for financial year 2026-27 onward, so it does not apply to your current Form 16.

Part A is the summary half of the certificate. Read it to confirm the employer details are correct, the period of employment matches your records, and the quarterly TDS totals are real deposits, not just deductions.

1. Check the employer TAN and the PAN of both employer and employee.
2. Confirm the assessment year reads AY 2026-27 and the employment period is right.
3. Read the quarterly table: the amount deducted should equal the amount deposited for each quarter.
4. Note the unique TDS certificate number and confirm the TRACES logo is present.

If any quarter shows tax deducted but not deposited, that is a red flag. See our guide on what to do when your employer did not issue Form 16 or did not deposit the tax.

Part B is the annexure that builds your tax from the ground up. It starts with gross salary, removes allowances that are exempt under section 10 (such as house rent allowance within limits), applies the standard deduction, then subtracts your Chapter VI-A deductions and arrives at total taxable income and the tax payable on it.

Because Part B carries the numbers you type into your return, it is the part you study most closely. If your section 80C, 80D or other claims are missing here, raise it with your employer before the certificate is finalised.

You do not generate Form 16 yourself. The steps below are what your employer follows, so you know what to ask for.

1. The employer logs in to the TRACES portal at tdscpc.gov.in as a deductor.
2. The employer files the quarter-four TDS return (Form 24Q) and validates it.
3. The employer requests and downloads Part A, which is generated with the TRACES logo and certificate number.
4. The employer prepares or downloads Part B with the full salary and deduction breakup.
5. The employer signs both parts (digitally or physically) and issues them to you.

The due date for your employer to issue Form 16 is 15 June of the assessment year. For FY 2025-26, that means by 15 June 2026. If your employer misses this, you can use the AI RTI Drafter to draft a request, and you can read The RTI Playbook for how to escalate.

Anjali, a software engineer in Pune, changed jobs in October 2025. Her old employer gave her only Part A, showing TDS of ₹84,000 deducted and deposited across the first two quarters. Her new employer issued full Form 16 with Part A showing ₹61,000 and a complete Part B.

The old Part A had no salary breakup, so she reconciled it as follows.

1. She opened Form 26AS on the e-filing portal and saw both TANs, with total TDS of ₹1,45,000, matching ₹84,000 plus ₹61,000.
2. For the old job, she used her payslips to reconstruct the salary and section 10 exemptions herself, since Part B was missing.
3. She wrote to her old employer asking for Part B, which they are required to prepare.
4. She combined both salaries, applied the standard deduction once, and added her ₹1,50,000 section 80C and ₹25,000 section 80D claims.

Because she had two employers in one year, she also read our guide on handling two Form 16s after a job change before filing. The TDS in both Part A documents matched Form 26AS, so her return sailed through.

No. Only your employer, as the deductor, can generate and download Form 16 from TRACES. You should request it from your employer. To independently check your TDS, view Form 26AS and the AIS on the income-tax e-filing portal.

Part A is the TRACES-generated proof of how much tax was deducted and deposited against your PAN. Part B is the employer-prepared annexure that shows how your taxable salary and tax were computed. You need both to file accurately.

The employer must issue Form 16 by 15 June of the assessment year, which is 15 June 2026 for FY 2025-26. If it is not issued, send a written request first, then escalate as needed.

Part B is the employer's responsibility to prepare, so ask for it in writing. If you cannot get it in time, rebuild the salary breakup from your payslips and offer letter, and make sure the TDS in Part A matches Form 26AS before you file.

A genuine Part A is generated from TRACES, carries the TRACES logo, and has a unique TDS certificate number. A self-typed Part A without these features is not valid for your TDS credit, because the Department matches it against deposits in its system.

This means your employer cut the tax but did not pay it to the government. Keep your payslips as proof, raise it with the employer, and read our guide on an employer who did not issue or deposit the TDS to know your remedies.

Get both parts of Form 16 from your employer, then open Form 26AS and the AIS on the e-filing portal and confirm every quarter matches. If a part is missing or the figures do not reconcile, ask your employer in writing, and use the AI RTI Drafter if you need to formalise the request. For more citizen guides, start at the RTI Wiki homepage.

Sources: Section 203 and Rule 31, Income-tax Act, 1961 and Income-tax Rules, 1962; Income-tax Department guidance on Form 16 and Form 16A (incometaxindia.gov.in); TRACES portal (tdscpc.gov.in); CBDT requirement that Part A be generated from TRACES with a unique TDS certificate number. This is general information for awareness, not individual tax advice; confirm your specific situation with a qualified tax professional or the income-tax e-filing portal.

Form 16 is a critical TDS certificate for salaried employees. Here is the complete guide:

1. Step 1: What is Form 16? A certificate issued by the employer under Section 203 of the Income Tax Act, showing TDS deducted from the employee's salary. It has two parts: Part A and Part B.
2. Step 2: Part A vs Part B. (a) Part A: contains TDS details — TAN of employer, PAN of employee, quarterly TDS breakdown, challan details, (b) Part B: contains salary details — gross salary, exemptions (HRA, LTA), perquisites, deductions (80C, 80D, etc.), tax liability, © Part A is auto-generated from TRACES (TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System), (d) Part B is prepared by the employer manually.
3. Step 3: How to download from TRACES. (a) the EMPLOYER downloads Part A from TRACES (traces.tdscpc.gov.in), (b) the employer logs in with TAN and password, © navigates to “Statements/Forms” → “Form 16”, (d) selects the quarter and financial year, (e) downloads Part A for each employee, (f) the employer then prepares Part B and combines both parts, (g) the employee cannot download Form 16 directly from TRACES — only the employer can.
4. Step 4: When is Form 16 issued? (a) the employer must issue Form 16 by June 15 of the following financial year (e.g., for FY 2025-26, by June 15, 2026), (b) if the employee leaves the job: Form 16 must be issued within 15 days of request, © if the employer does not issue: penalty of Rs 100 per day under Section 272A.
5. Step 5: Common errors in Form 16. (a) incorrect PAN — leads to TDS not reflecting in Form 26AS, (b) wrong TAN of employer, © salary figure mismatch between Form 16 and ITR, (d) deductions not reflected (if the employee did not submit proofs), (e) perquisites not shown correctly, (f) if the employer made an error: ask for a corrected Form 16.
6. Step 6: Verify with Form 26AS/AIS. (a) download Form 26AS from the income tax portal, (b) check that the TDS in Form 16 matches Form 26AS, © if mismatch: (i) the employer may not have deposited the TDS, (ii) the employer may have deposited with wrong PAN, (d) also check AIS (Annual Information Statement) for completeness.
7. Step 7: File RTI. File RTI with CBDT/TRACES asking for: (a) the status of TDS deposit, (b) whether the employer has filed the TDS return, © the TDS credited to your PAN.

See Which ITR Form and TCS on LRS.