Form 16 Not Issued or TDS Deducted but Not Deposited by Your Employer? Here Is What to Do

Who this guide is for

This guide is for salaried employees in India — across private companies, small businesses, startups, and even some government-aided organisations — who face one or more of the following situations:

• Your employer has not issued Form 16 for FY 2024-25 or FY 2025-26 even though they deducted TDS from your salary.
• TDS appears on your salary slip but the same amount does not show up in your Form 26AS or AIS, suggesting it was deducted but not deposited.
• Your employer filed a TDS return with wrong PAN details so the credit is not reflecting under your account.
• The Income Tax Department has raised a demand notice for tax that your employer was supposed to have deposited.
• You want to file your ITR but are stuck because Form 16 is missing or incomplete.

This guide is also useful for employees whose employer has closed down, relocated, or stopped responding. It is not a substitute for advice from a Chartered Accountant in complex disputes — we recommend consulting one if you receive a notice or face a significant mismatch.

What you can do this weekend

Friday evening

Start by getting the full picture. Log in to incometax.gov.in and download Form 26AS and the Annual Information Statement (AIS) for the relevant financial year. Form 26AS is available under the e-File menu. AIS is under Services. Look at the TDS section — your employer's TAN (Tax Deduction Account Number) should appear, with the amount deducted and the amount deposited.

Pull out all your salary slips for the year. Add up the total TDS deducted as shown on those slips. Compare that total with what Form 26AS / AIS reports. Note any gap — that is your mismatch.

Finally, check your bank account statements for the year to confirm your net salary matches what the slips say after TDS was deducted.

Saturday

Write a formal email to your employer. Address it to HR, the Finance/Accounts department, or your manager — whoever handles payroll. Clearly state the financial year, the amount of TDS deducted as per your salary slips, and your request: either issue Form 16, or file a corrected TDS statement (Form 24Q) with TRACES so the credit shows up in your Form 26AS. Keep the tone professional. Save a copy of the sent email — it is your evidence.

If you do not know your employer's TAN, you can search for it on the Income Tax e-filing portal under Services > Know TAN Details, using the employer's name and state.

Also, if you are currently employed, gently check whether the issue is one of timing (Form 16 for FY 2025-26 is due by 15 June 2026) rather than a genuine default. Many employers issue Form 16 only around mid-June each year.

Sunday

If Form 26AS clearly shows the TDS credit is missing and your employer's response is delayed or unsatisfactory, go ahead and file your grievance on the IT portal. Log in, go to Grievances > Submit Grievance, and select CPC-TDS as the department. Choose the subcategory that best describes your issue (TDS mismatch, Form 26AS discrepancy, or employer not depositing TDS). Attach scanned salary slips and your email to the employer. Keep the acknowledgement number.

Even if the grievance is open, do not delay filing your ITR. Use your salary slips and Form 26AS to compute taxable income, and claim the TDS that was actually deducted from your salary. The guide on income tax refund delays and e-Nivaran escalation explains how to track your return and any refund.

Documents and evidence checklist

Step-by-step action plan

Step 1 — Check Form 26AS and AIS to establish the gap

This is the most important step. Log in to incometax.gov.in with your PAN and password. Under e-File, go to Income Tax Returns and then View Form 26AS, or use the direct link under Services. Download the PDF for the relevant financial year. Next, go to Services > Annual Information Statement (AIS) and download the AIS as well.

In Form 26AS, look at Part A — this lists every employer (by TAN) who has deposited TDS against your PAN. If your employer's TAN is absent, or if the amount shown is less than what your salary slips show was deducted, that is your mismatch. Note the exact difference in rupees and record the financial year.

AIS provides additional detail including total salary income reported by your employer. If your employer has not even filed their TDS return (Form 24Q), there may be no entry at all.

Step 2 — Understand what the law says about your liability

Section 205 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 is a key protection for employees. It states that where tax has been deducted at source from your income, you cannot be required to pay that same tax again. The CBDT has also issued circulars (in 2015 and 2016) directing that TDS credit should be allowed to employees even if the employer has defaulted on depositing it. Several High Courts, including the Delhi High Court and Gujarat High Court, have consistently upheld this protection.

In practical terms: the employer's default is the employer's problem legally, not yours. The Income Tax Department should recover the unpaid TDS from the employer under Section 201, not from you. However, this protection is not automatic — you may still receive a demand notice if there is a mismatch, and you will need to respond to it with evidence.

Step 3 — Write formally to your employer demanding Form 16 or correction

Do not rely only on verbal or WhatsApp requests. Send an email to the payroll / finance / HR team with a clear subject line such as "Request for Form 16 for FY [YEAR] / TDS correction". In the email, state the financial year, the total TDS deducted as per salary slips, the TAN you expect to see in Form 26AS, and your deadline for a response. The complaint template further down in this guide has a ready-to-use format.

If your employer's TDS return had a wrong PAN for you, ask them to file a corrected Form 24Q with TRACES so the credit shifts to your correct PAN. This is a common issue in organisations with high staff turnover or manual payroll processing.

Step 4 — File your ITR without waiting for Form 16

Form 16 is a helpful document, but it is not legally required to file your ITR. You can compute taxable income from salary slips and claim TDS from Form 26AS. If TDS is not in Form 26AS because the employer did not deposit, you can still claim it based on your salary slips — but be prepared for the department to flag a mismatch. When that happens, you respond with evidence of deduction.

Do not delay filing your return. The last date for salaried employees to file ITR is generally 31 July of the assessment year (check the IT portal for any extension in the current year). Late filing can attract interest and penalties on unpaid tax — which would be your own tax, not the TDS that was supposed to be deposited by your employer.

See the sibling guide on AIS and Form 26AS mismatches for more detail on reconciling your AIS before filing.

Step 5 — File a grievance on the Income Tax e-filing portal

Log in to incometax.gov.in. Go to Grievances > Submit Grievance. Select the department as CPC-TDS. From the category dropdown, choose the option closest to your situation — for example, "Form 26AS / AIS related issues", "TDS not reflecting in 26AS", or "Employer has not deposited TDS". In the description box, explain the issue clearly: the financial year, the TAN (if known), the amount, and what steps you have already taken. Upload salary slips and your demand email to the employer. Submit and note the acknowledgement number for follow-up.

You can track the grievance status from the portal Dashboard. The standard target resolution time is 30 days, though complex cases may take longer.

Step 6 — Respond to any demand notice with Section 205

If the IT department issues you a demand notice for tax that your employer deducted but did not deposit, do not panic and do not ignore it. Log in to the portal, go to e-File > Pending Actions > Response to Outstanding Demand. Submit a response quoting Section 205 and attaching all salary slips. Explain that the tax was deducted by your employer and you cannot be required to pay it again. This is also the stage where a Chartered Accountant's guidance is most valuable — they can draft the response, attach the right documents, and follow up with the Assessing Officer if needed.

Step 7 — Escalate if the portal grievance stalls

If your IT portal grievance is closed without a satisfactory resolution, or is not resolved within 30 days, escalate to CPGRAMS at pgportal.gov.in, tagging the Ministry of Finance / Department of Revenue. Include your IT grievance acknowledgement number. You can also write directly to your Jurisdictional Assessing Officer by finding their office details under Services > Know Your AO on the IT portal. See also the guide on using e-Nivaran and CPGRAMS for income tax grievances.

For the employer-side default — where they are not paying over the TDS — the Income Tax Department takes enforcement action against the employer under Section 201. You do not need to drive this yourself, but you can report it through the same grievance channel. For broader employment or wage disputes, contact the Labour Commissioner in your state — that is a separate channel and may help if you are also dealing with salary non-payment or other violations.

Escalation ladder

Copy-paste complaint template

Replace the text in square brackets with your own details before sending.

When RTI can help

The Income Tax Department is a public authority under the Right to Information Act, 2005. You can use RTI to:

• Ask your Jurisdictional Income Tax Office for the status of a grievance or complaint you have filed, if the portal-based grievance is not being updated.
• Request information about the TDS deposited by a specific TAN for a financial year — this can help you establish whether your employer ever filed TDS returns for your PAN. (Note: the department may decline to share confidential TAN-level data; the outcome depends on the information held and applicable exemptions.)
• Track the status of any demand raised or modified by the Assessing Officer in relation to your PAN.

To file an RTI with the Income Tax Department, you can use the online RTI portal at our guide to filing RTI online. The Public Information Officer for Income Tax matters is typically the Income Tax Officer in charge of your jurisdiction. Our guide on using CPGRAMS alongside RTI explains how CPGRAMS and RTI can work together for income tax issues. You can also read the RTI Playbook for tips on framing effective RTI requests.

If the IT department grievance has been open for a long time without resolution, you may also consider an RTI request asking for the action taken on your grievance number — this sometimes accelerates the response.

When RTI will not help

RTI applies only to public authorities. Your private employer is not a public authority under the RTI Act, 2005, and is not obliged to respond to RTI applications. You cannot use RTI to:

• Force your private employer to issue Form 16.
• Access payroll or TDS records held by a private company.
• Demand TDS deposit receipts from a private employer.

For employer-side enforcement, your options are: the Income Tax Department (which has authority over the employer's TDS obligations under the IT Act), the Labour Commissioner for employment disputes, and civil or criminal courts if you need to recover funds or pursue a breach-of-trust complaint. The guide on EPFO claims and employer defaults provides a parallel picture of how employer-side PF defaults are handled — the approach for TDS is similar in structure.

If your employer is a public sector undertaking (PSU) or a government-funded organisation, it may qualify as a public authority under RTI — seek advice from a legal professional to confirm before filing.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Waiting endlessly for Form 16 before filing your ITR. You do not need Form 16 to file. Use salary slips and Form 26AS. Delaying your ITR past the due date can attract late-filing interest and fees.
• Assuming the demand notice is correct. If the IT department sends a demand for tax your employer deducted, respond using Section 205 — do not simply pay it without checking. Paying without protest may complicate your ability to recover it later.
• Not keeping copies of salary slips. If you delete or lose your payslips, you lose your primary evidence of TDS deduction. Download and store at least the last three years' payslips immediately.
• Sending a WhatsApp message as your formal demand. Informal requests are easy for employers to ignore. Always send an email (so there is a date-stamped record) and, for stronger effect, follow it with a letter sent by speed post with acknowledgement due.
• Not noting your grievance acknowledgement number. Without it, you cannot track status or mention it in CPGRAMS escalation.
• Trying to use RTI against a private employer. RTI does not cover private companies. Time spent on this is wasted — go directly to the IT portal grievance or Labour Commissioner.
• Ignoring a demand notice. IT demand notices have a response deadline (typically 30 days). Missing it can lead to automatic recovery actions against your bank account or future refunds. If you are unsure how to respond, consult a CA immediately.
• Assuming the problem will fix itself after your employer promises to correct it. Keep following up in writing, track the Form 26AS monthly, and escalate through official channels if nothing changes.