ITR: Now that the new financial year has started and the season of filing income tax returns has arrived, many people must have sat down with ITR forms. Especially for the financial year 2024-25 and assessment year 2025-26, ITR-1 and ITR-4 are available to fill online. In such a situation, one of the most important things is Form 16 and Form 16A, which helps you to fill the return correctly. But many people are confused about it or take it lightly. Let us explain to you in simple language what these forms are and why they are so important.

What does Form 16 and 16A mean?

When you do a job or earn money from a company, the government wants tax to be deducted on your earnings in advance. This is called TDS i.e. Tax Deduction at Source. Now when a company or bank deducts tax from your income, in return you have to give a proof that they have deposited this money with the government. This proof is Form 16 or Form 16A, which is also called TDS Certificate.

Form 16 is mostly given to working people. That means the tax deducted from your salary is accounted for in this form. Form 16A is for those people who get income like interest on FD, commission, or professional fees. So whether you are working or a freelancer or have invested in a bank, these forms let you know how much tax has been deducted and how much amount is still due on you.

What is written in Form 16?

Form 16 is a kind of report card of your entire year’s income and tax. This form is issued by your company, which tells you how much salary you received, how much TDS was deducted, and under which tax sections like 80C, 80D etc. you took deduction. It also contains your PAN number and your company’s TAN number. It also contains the details of how much tax was deducted every quarter and how much was deposited to the government.

This form is divided into two parts – Part A and Part B.

In Part A, you get the summary of TDS, that is, how much tax was deducted on how much money. At the same time, Part B contains the details of your complete salary breakdown and tax deduction. Both these parts are downloaded from the TRACES website and they are considered genuine. Even if a company has given it to you by mail or in print, you should still keep the TRACES version because only that is considered valid in ITR filing.

Where does Form 16A come in handy?

Now suppose you have made an FD in a bank and are earning interest from it, or you are taking commission from an agency or providing professional services – then tax is deducted on your income from there too. In such cases, you are given Form 16A. This form also contains all the details related to TDS such as the nature of payment (interest, commission, fees etc.), how much money was received, how much tax was deducted and in which quarter it was deposited to the government. Here also your PAN number and the TAN number of the bank or company making the payment are there. And yes, this form is also valid only if downloaded from the TRACES website.