How to Get Form 16 Online – Download in Simple Steps

Employees can't pull Form 16 off TRACES on their own. Your employer downloads it and hands it to you, before 15 June 2026 for FY 2025-26. If you are waiting for Form 16, Form 26AS on the income tax e-filing site has your TDS numbers in the meantime.

Key Takeaways

• Employers owe you Form 16 for FY 2025-26 by June 15, 2026. Miss that deadline, and it costs them ₹100 a day per certificate, under Section 272A(2)(g) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, capped at the total TDS amount involved. 
• There's no employee login on TRACES for Form 16 downloads. Your employer's TAN gates that access, not your PAN.

Employees sometimes assume they can access Form 16 the same way as other tax documents, directly through a government portal. That is not the case. TRACES access belongs only to the employer, registered under a TAN as the deductor. Every salaried person whose company deducted tax under Section 192 needs this certificate once a year, right after the final quarterly TDS filing wraps up. You can get it in your inbox or your HR portal, not through any government login you can access yourself. Your ITR for FY 2025-26 is due 31 July 2026, and Form 16 is the fastest way to get those numbers right.

What does Form 16 contain?

• Part A: generated on TRACES, lists your PAN, employer's TAN, and quarter-wise TDS summary.
• Part B: built by your employer, covers full salary breakup, exemptions, and deductions claimed.

Together, they satisfy Section 203 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the legal basis for issuing TDS certificates.

Who Can Download Form 16?

TRACES grants download access based on the TAN, and the TAN belongs to the employer. This is why Form 16 is not something an employee retrieves through their own PAN. 

If a job changed mid-year, this also means two separate certificates are due, one from each employer, each covering its own period of employment. 

Anyone who wants to check TDS details without waiting on Form 16 can log into the income tax e-filing portal using their PAN and view Form 26AS there.

How Do I Get Form 16 Online From My Employer?

• HR or payroll logs into TRACES using the company TAN.
• They generate Part A first, then attach Part B with salary details.
• Larger companies upload the finished PDF to an internal HR portal.
• Smaller setups often just email it directly once it's ready.
• The format should match the TRACES-prescribed layout. Hand-built versions in Excel don't count as valid proof.

What is the due date for Form 16 for FY 2025-26?

Form 16 has to be issued by 15 June 2026 for FY 2025-26, as prescribed in Rule 31(3) of the Income Tax Rules, 1962.

Here's the chronology of events:

The chronology moves backwards from the filing of the final quarterly TDS return. Employers file Form 24Q for the January to March 2026 quarter by 31 May 2026. 

TRACES allows employers to generate Part A of Form 16, which sets out TDS details, while Part B, covering salary breakup and deductions, is prepared and issued along with it. The only statutory deadline that applies is the completed Form 16 being handed over by June 15, 2026, following FY 2025-26. Miss that date, and it costs the employer ₹100 a day per certificate.

What Should I Do If I Don't Get Form 16 at All?

• In case your employer doesn't issue Form 16, it is possible to file ITR with Form 26AS along with your own salary details.
• Form 26AS is proof of every TDS entry made against your PAN, straight from the database of the government. You may also view the Annual Information Statement on the e-filing portal to know about your income and taxes deducted against it. 

Keep ready the copies of salary slips and bank statements. These will assist you in preparing the data which was available in Form 16.

Form 16 vs Form 16A vs Form 26AS

Form 16 confirms your salary TDS in one document, but plenty of taxpayers also deal with Form 16A and Form 26AS without quite knowing how the three actually differ. Here's a quick side by side comparison to clear that up.