What is the Difference Between Form 16 and Form 16A?

What is Form 16?

Form 16 means the certificate of Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) given by the employer after the end of the fiscal year for taxes deducted from salary. The salary TDS certificate is also known as Form 16. On the other hand, Form 16A is the TDS certificate that shows the TDS details of non-salary tax deduction.

An employer deducts Tax at Source (TDS) on the salaries of employees whose total income during any financial year exceeds the basic exemption limit of Rs. 2,50,000.

What is Form 16 salary certificate?

The employer issues the Form 16 salary certificate within 15th June of the fiscal year following the fiscal year during which the income was paid and tax deducted. For example, for FY 2020-21, the due date for the issue of Form 16 shall be 15th June 2021.

If there has not been any deduction of tax from salary, the employee is only entitled to get the salary certificate and not Form 16.

Now let us understand how to fill form 16 for salary with example:

Suppose, Amit age 45, works in ABC Co. and gets Rs. 1 lakh as salary per month during the financial year 2020-21, i.e. from April 2020 to March 2021. He has no other source of income, while he has paid Rs. 80,000 during the year as a life insurance premium and Rs. 20,000 as medical insurance premium.

The income tax slab for individuals below 60 years of age is as below:

Now let’s find his taxable income and tax payable amount.

Also Read: How To Make TDS Payment Online?

Tax payable as per slab above

Now, the company would deduct Rs. 11,050/- monthly from Mr Amit’s salary as TDS and pay it to the government. The company will also furnish all the details of the deductees about the tax deduction in its quarterly TDS return filing with the government.

At the end of the year, the company issues the salary certificate Form 16 to Amit. The employer certifies the salary Amit has earned during the year and the amount of TDS deducted.

Note that Form 16 is issued annually to the employee and not quarterly. 

Parts of Form 16

Form 16 has two sections, ‘Part A’ & ‘Part B’. 

Form 16 Part A has details like:

• PAN No (Permanent Account Number) of the employer/ deductor
• TAN No (Tax Deduction Account Number) of the employer/ deductor
• Employer’s name and address
• Employee’s name and address
• PAN No of employee
• Assessment year
• The period of employment
• The date and amount of tax deduction and deposit date by the employer.

Sample of Form 16 Part A

Part B is a part of Form 16 that has the consolidated detail of salary paid during the financial year. This salary form highlights the calculation of taxable income by the employer based on the employee’s salary structure. It also includes the details of other incomes and deductions provided by the employee. 

It highlights the following details:

• Income from salary in Form 16. (It includes all the salary components like Basic, DA, HRA, LTA, Professional Tax, etc.)
• Gross income from salary plus any other income as reported by the employee.
• Deductions u/s 80C, 80CCC, 80CCD (Maximum limit Rs. 1.5 lakh)
• Deduction u/s 80D (medical insurance premium), 80E (interest on education loans), 80G (donations), etc. (It is necessary to submit the investment and other payment receipts to the employer for claiming tax deduction)
• All the qualifying deductions subtracted from the gross income to arrive at the Taxable Income. Then tax is calculated based on the income tax slab relevant for that year.
• The TDS is deducted by the employer and subtracted from the tax liability.  The net effect can be nil tax payable or lower tax payable or refund of tax already paid.

Sample of  Form 16 Part B

What is Form 16A?

Form 16A is also a TDS certificate. While Form 16 is for tax deducted on salary, Form 16A is a TDS certificate issued by the deductor when you receive non-salary income.

For example, banks deduct TDS on the fixed deposits interest. The payer also deducts TDS on your income on commission or brokerage, or professional fees. There are different TDS rates for different types of income, and each income has a different threshold limit for TDS. 

The details of Form 16A highlights the following:

• Name and address of the deductor
• Name and address of the deductee
• PAN and TAN details of the deductor
• PAN of the deductee
• The total amount paid and tax deducted during the financial year
• Date of payment.

Let’s understand with a simple example. 

Mr John is an architect who has worked for YC Infrastructure Ltd., and he has charged professional fees of Rs. 10 lakhs.

Now let’s find out the tax to be deducted by YC Infrastructure Ltd. They would deduct the tax @ 10% u/s 194J on payment towards professional fees.

In this example, YC Infrastructure Ltd. would deduct Rs. 1,00,000 and deposit the same with the government and also show in its TDS return filing.

Later, Form 16A certificate would be issued to Mr John stating the details. It would include the total professional fees paid, tax deducted, date of payment and tax deduction, the tax deduction rate, the section under which tax was deducted, etc.

Sample of a Form 16A

Also Read: Salary Calculator 2020-21 - Take Home Salary Calculator India

Differences between Form 16 and Form 16A