How To Generate Form 16 A For Payments Other Than Salary

Do you have sources of income other than your salary? Are you worried about declaring income from other sources? Are you concerned about keeping your tax balance sheet clean? Follow along. This article will give you the answers to these questions and more. The above-mentioned topic is usually dealt with in Form 16 and Form 16A. 

These forms are similar to each other as they relate to income. Let’s first clarify what each one is and then look at their differences. We will then get into how to generate Form 16A from the TRACES website.

What is Form 16A

Form 16A is a document issued by any payer who makes a payment to you and is liable to deduct TDS. All payments made by a taxpayer will be subject to TDS if they are above a prescribed threshold. The deductor of such TDS  issues Form 16A. 

It is due after the deductor files their TDS return every quarter. We'll look into how to download Form 16A later. A deductor is a person who has paid you in exchange for your services or goods after deducting TDS.  

What is Form 16

Most of the salaried class would be aware of Form 16 provided by every employer each financial year. Let’s briefly discuss what this Form 16 is all about. Form 16 is a document to certify your income from salary. It lists your taxable income, details of tax already deducted or TDS, your net pay among other items.

Difference between Form 16 and Form 16A

All employers are liable to provide an annual Form 16 as per provisions of Section 203 of ITA. Form 16 is only applicable where employee salary exceeds the taxable income threshold.

Note the difference, Form 16 is an annual activity, but Form 16A is a quarterly activity as per Section 203 of the Income Tax Act. The important thing to note is, payments over Rs.30,000 are liable for TDS and are not eligible for deductions.

So, what is the purpose of Form 16A? Form 16A lists income from sources other than your salary. It also lists the amount of TDS deducted for incomes like professional charges, rent, commission etc. Form 16A is helpful in the filing of income tax returns and a document of proof that you have paid your tax dues already by way of TDS.

Form 16A Due Date

Form 16A is due on the 15^th day of the month in the quarter the TDS return is due for the deductor.  Any deductor who has deducted TDS on your payment is liable to issue you a Form 16A. It is important to mention that the rate of taxation depends on the source of income other than salary. As an example, your income from property rent will be liable for taxation at a different rate than say your income from professional fees.

Also Read: Time Limit To Deposit TDS And File TDS Return

How To Generate Form 16A?

If you are wondering how to generate Form 16A online, you can download it from the Income Tax website.  You can easily do so by using the TRACES app on the income tax website. 

In the section below, we explain how to generate Form 16A online. We have laid down the process to follow to download Form 16A. However, let’s first get more details on Form 16A.

Components of Form 16A

Form 16A includes the below important details among others -

• Deductors Name, TAN, PAN and address
• Your Name, TAN, PAN and address
• Year of Assessment, meaning the period for which TDS was deducted.
• Details of Payment made, including the nature of payment and the date of payment.
• Quarter in which the payment was made and the TDS deducted.
• Tax deposited details with Challan number, the amount along with the date

The same details are available in Form 26AS. You can verify your Form 16A against your Form 26AS. Form 26AS contains all the TDS deducted whether it is from salary or otherwise.

If the payer claims to have deducted TDS from your payment, he is liable to issue you a Form 16A within 15 days of filing their TDS return. In cases where you have not received Form 16A from your deductor, you could check the same on the Income Tax portal with the help of the TRACES app.

What is TRACES?

TRACES(TDS Reconciliation Analysis and Correction Enabling System) is the Income Tax department app available at www.tdspc.gov.in

• It enables taxpayers and deductors (employers) of TDS to view taxes already paid, allow reconciliations for the purpose of tax return filing and refunds. To login to TRACES, use the URL - https://www.tdscpc.gov.in/app/login.xhtml
• To register with TRACES, you will need to provide details that include, PAN, email id, mobile number and the name (First name, Middle Name, Last Name). We shall get to the details along with screenshots a little later. Once you have logged in, you will be able to perform the below-mentioned tasks as an individual taxpayer:
  • Download Form 16 and Form 16A
  • View all tax deduction at source transactions
  • View Advance taxes paid
  • View Self-assessed taxes paid

Other important facilities provided by TRACES for both deductors and taxpayers are -

• Viewing and downloading Form 26AS
• Viewing Challan status
• Correcting TDS/TCS statement 
• Checking status of Tax statement online
• Raising a refund request online
• Downloading consolidated file and justification report
• Correcting previously filed TDS returns
• Correcting OLTAS challan.

Also available on TRACES is the AIR (Annual Information Report). AIR includes the record of transactions in cash, shares, property, mutual funds, bonds and credit cards. Taxpayers can view and download the AIR for their respective PAN from TRACES.

TRACES has replaced the previous paper-based correction system.

Also Read: How To Make TDS Payment Online?

How To Generate Form 16A From TRACES?

Many taxpayers are mostly concerned about Form16 or Form 16A from the TRACES website, if not already provided by the employer or deductor. If you are wondering how to claim TDS from Form 16A, follow the below-mentioned steps to know how to download Form 16A from TRACES:

1. Log in to TRACES using the URL https://www.tdscpc.gov.in/app/login.xhtml. If you are not already registered as a taxpayer on TRACES, you can follow the steps given below in the Register on TRACES section.

You will find the login page below.

2. If you have registered as a Taxpayer, please select the Taxpayer/PAO option.
3. Enter your user id and password
4. Enter TAN for deductor. TAN is the Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number. You will get it from your employer.
5. Enter the verification code
6. Check the status of the statement under “Statement/Payment”. Ensure that the status is set to either ‘Statement Processed with Default’ or ‘Statement Processed without Default’. For help on viewing the Statement Status refer to the Check Statement Status section.
7. Select the Downloads tab and click on Form 16A.

8. It will display the name and details of the authorized person,  on Form 16A  which you can print later. Click on Submit. 

9.  KYC requirements will be auto-populated and displayed.
10. Enter the token number of the original statement corresponding to the Financial Year, Quarter and Form Type displayed. Each statement will have a token number associated with it; you will have to look for the same in your statement.

11. Enter CIN or PAN details corresponding to the Financial Year, Quarter and form displayed.  You will not be able to copy-paste the data.

12. After providing the right KYC details, it will generate an authentication code.
13. Submit your request. You will get a Request number that you can use to track the status of the request.

14. Once the status changes to Available, you can download Form 16A from the Requested Download tab.

How to Register on TRACES

1. Visit  www.tdscpc.gov.in. It will display a cautionary message. Click on Continue.

2. Select Register as New User Tab

3. Individual taxpayers, trying to register will need to enter PAN, email id and mobile number. It will generate an email and send it to your registered email id for verification and confirmation of account creation.

Check Statement Status

1. Login to TRACES

2. Select Statement Status under Statements/Payments

3. You get 4 options to search for your statement. They are by:

• Statement
• Token Number
• Statement Status
• Time Duration

• With the Statement option, you can search by entering Financial Year, Quarter, Form Type and click on View Statement Status
• Using the Token Number option, you will have to enter the Provisional Receipt / Token Number from the filed TDS statement and then click on View Statement Status
• The third option, Statement Status will list all statements with the current status that you are searching for. For example, you can list statements that are with the status ‘Processed with Defaults’.
• The last option lets you search for statements filed within a specified period. For example, you could search for statements filed in the last 3 months by selecting the option ‘During Last 3 months’.

Also Read: TDS Rate Chart For FY 2021-22

Conclusion

We hope you understood how to generate form 16A online. There are many software applications that help with Form 16 and Form 16A. Many are available on the cloud and others available to download and run. These software applications greatly improve the experience of preparing, reconciling and downloading tax-related documents like Form 16A.