Salaried individuals consider Form 16 as an essential document when it comes to income tax return (ITR) filing, which is issued by the employers. However, it is observed that employees whose taxable income does not exceed the basic exemption limit do not receive a Form 16 from their employers. Also, there may be other cases too when they may not issue it.

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For such taxpayers, the good news is that it is also possible to file ITR without Form 16, experts opine.

What exactly is Form 16?

Form 16 provides details of TDS/TCS for various transactions between deductor and deductee. t reflects the working of income earned as salary along-with various allowances and deductions. As per the rule, employers must issue it every year on or before 15 June of the next year, immediately after the financial year in which the tax is deducted.

Form 16 is divided into two parts; Part A and Part B. Part A contains details regarding the monthly deductions of tax made by the employer from the salaries of the employee. Part B of Form 16 contains the details of salary paid by the employer along with any other income and the tax deducted thereon.

How to file ITR without Form 16?

In absence of Form 16, taxpayers can use their salary slips, along with Form 26AS, which is an annual tax statement issued by the income tax department. One can download Form 26AS from TRACES website or by using netbanking facility of authorised banks.

Salary slips contain breakdown of the salary components as well as all deductions made. Taxpayers should ensure that all details like additional income, deductions claimed on HRA, deductions under Sections 80C and 80D and others are calculated. If the gross income, total deductions, and total TDS come out to the same amount as the one shown in Form 26AS, then taxpayers can proceed to file their ITRs even without the help of Form 16/16A.