Understand your Form 16 before you file
Form 16 is the certificate your employer gives you for the tax it deducted from your salary during the year. It has everything you need to file your return, but in a dense table of totals. TellBrief reads yours and shows your salary, what was exempt, what you claimed, the tax deducted, and which numbers to check against your AIS before you file.
How to do it
- Download your Form 16 from your employer's portal or email (usually a PDF for Part A and Part B).
- Add it to TellBrief and tap Brief.
- Check the gross salary, deductions and tax deducted it lists.
- Match the tax deducted with your AIS or Form 26AS on the e-filing portal before filing.
What TellBrief tells you
- Your gross salary, exemptions and taxable income, in plain words
- The deductions your employer counted, like 80C and 80D
- The tax deducted each quarter and the total
- Numbers to check against your AIS before you file
Words you'll see
- Part A
- Details of the tax your employer deducted and deposited: your PAN, the employer's TAN and tax per quarter.
- Part B
- How your tax was worked out: salary, exemptions, deductions, taxable income and tax.
- TDS
- Tax deducted at source: the tax your employer took from your salary and paid to the government.
- Gross salary
- Your total salary before exemptions and deductions.
- Old and new regime
- Two ways to work out income tax. The new regime has lower rates but allows fewer deductions.
- AIS / 26AS
- Your statements on the e-filing portal of income and tax the department already knows about.
Questions
When do I get Form 16?
Employers usually issue it by mid-June for the previous financial year.
Can I file my return without Form 16?
Yes, using your salary slips and AIS, but Form 16 makes it easier to check the numbers.
What if Form 16 and AIS don't match?
Ask your employer to correct its TDS filing before you file, or file with the correct figures and keep proof.
Will TellBrief file my return?
No. It explains your Form 16 so you can file on the e-filing portal or with your tax professional.
More guides
- Read your CIBIL report and see what moves your scoreUnderstand your CIBIL or credit report: what pulls the score down, the DPD columns, settled and written-off accounts, enquiries, and how to raise a dispute.
- Understand your traffic e-challanGot a traffic e-challan? See the offence, the section, the fine, the photo evidence and how to pay or contest it on the Parivahan or state police portal.
- Understand your electricity bill line by lineWhy is your bijli bill so high? See units used, fixed and energy charges, fuel adjustment, taxes, arrears and the due date, in English, Hindi or Hinglish.
General information, not legal, medical or financial advice.
Brief yours free