Form 16
Form 16 is the certificate an employer issues each year summarising the salary paid to an employee and the tax deducted from it, used to file an income tax return.
Also known as: Form 16 meaning, salary TDS certificate
It comes in two parts. Part A carries the employer and employee identifiers and a quarterly summary of tax deducted and deposited, generated from the tax department's own records. Part B is the detailed salary breakup — earnings, exemptions claimed, deductions allowed and tax computed.
Because Part A is generated from filed returns rather than from payroll, a mismatch between what an employee believes was deducted and what appears on Form 16 usually means a filing problem rather than a payroll one. That is a distinction worth knowing before the conversation starts.
An employee who changes jobs mid-year receives a Form 16 from each employer, and filing correctly means combining them — which frequently reveals under-deduction, because the second employer taxed the salary as though it were the only one.
Statutory note
Issue deadlines and the prescribed format are set by the Income Tax Rules. Confirm the current deadline for the assessment year in question.
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See payrollRelated terms
TDS (Tax Deducted at Source)
TDS is income tax an employer withholds from salary each month and pays to the government on the employee's behalf, rather than the employee paying it in a lump sum at year end.
Net Salary (Take-Home)
Net salary is what actually reaches an employee's bank account — gross earnings for the period less every deduction and recovery.
CTC (Cost to Company)
CTC is the total annual cost an employer bears for an employee — salary, allowances, employer contributions and benefits combined — not the amount the employee receives.
Full and Final Settlement (F&F)
Full and final settlement is the closing calculation when an employee leaves — everything still owed to them, less everything they owe, paid as one amount after the last working day.