What is Form 16A TDS Certificate: Eligibility, Download & Filing Explained

Have you ever come across Form 16A or the term TDS? This form contains details on the TDS amount deducted and deposited on other payments except salary.

Every assessee with taxable income is obligated to disclose his income sources to the Income Tax Authority of India.

Hence it is essential to understand the variables linked to Form 16A in detail.

Scroll down to learn how to download Form 16A, its components and the right way to file it.

A deductor (other than an employer) issues Form 16A for TDS certificate, which is a quarterly statement issued concerning the nature of payments, the amount of TDS and the deposited TDS payments to the IT department. This includes brokerage, interest, professional fees, contractual payment, rent, etc. This certificate contains the details of the TDS deduction and the respective payment.

Unlike Form 16, which concerns salary structure, Form 16A of income tax deals with TDS from the mentioned factors - 

• Receipts from a business or profession
• Rental Receipts from a property or rent
• Sale Proceeds from Capital Assets
• Additional sources.

The tax deducted at source and tax collected at source are two essential factors concerning revenue collection. These factors facilitate the convenient way of tax payment on income earned. Form 16A means

The Income Tax Act 1961 has mandated TDS deduction on all non-salary payments made to an assessee (deductee) if his/her annual taxable income exceeds minimum threshold limit during a financial year.

[Source]

The deducted amount is deposited as TDS with the central government’s exchequer. To understand what ITR Form 16A is, we need to identify its purpose first.

An individual needs to download Form 16A when-

• One  decides to file an income tax return for a selected year
• If an individual has an additional income source apart from the regular salary with the Tax deducted at source (TDS) levied.
• When one applies for a loan with lending institutions and financial bodies. This form is a part of the documentation process.

Since the certificate plays an essential part in tax payment and loan endeavours, individuals should learn how to download Form 16A.

Before checking the steps for the same, let’s read the components in the form for a distinct understanding.

Form 16A comprises the following details-

• The taxpayer’s name and address.
• Details of an individual receiving this payment.
• PAN and TAN numbers of deductee and deductor.
• The amount paid to a deductee.
• Amount paid to the Income Tax Department as TDS. This is calculated on the income of the deductee. It is shown in percentage form.

Now let’s learn how to download Form 16A from Traces to streamline the process further.

• Visit the official Traces website, and select from “deductor” and “taxpayer” options

• Login with user id, password, TAN or PAN and captcha code.
• Redirect to Form 16A from downloads.
• Choose the PAN and financial year for which the TDS certificate is needed to download and proceed. A deductor can also request Form 16A by selecting the search PAN option.
• The redirected page will show details of the taxpayer as stored by TRACES. These data are printed on Form 16A.
• Click on the submit option to proceed.

• With digital signature and DSC option
  • Select a form type, financial year and quarter for KYC validation using DSC
  • Click on validate DSC option and enter password to sign in
  • On redirected page, enter the token number of the TDS return filed 
  • Click on the checkbox to the respective challan option and enter its details like serial number, date of tax deposit, BSR code, etc.
  • Enter  PAN details and click on proceed
  • Without digital signature:
  • Enter an authentication code and TDS token number of the return filed for the financial year.
  • Click on validate DSC option and enter the password to sign in
  • On redirected page, enter the token number of the TDS return filed 
  • Click on the checkbox to the respective challan option and enter its details like serial number, date of tax deposit, BSR code, etc.
  • Enter  PAN details and click on proceed
• After completing the steps above, a success page will appear. In addition, one can find two unique request numbers generated for Form 16A. You can download this file from the download tab.
  

Now that you have learned how to generate Form 16A online, read the steps to fill this form with ease.

Here’s how to fill Form 16A for salary with an example or picture.

• Start this process by downloading the Form 16A first.
• Enter a deductor’s name and address
• Fill in a deductor’s TAN and PAN details.
• Enter basic details such as contractual type, nature of payments, details of the profession, etc.
• Also, enter the four acknowledged numbers.
• Provide any code concerning the payments.
• Name, address and PAN details of a deductee whose TDS is deducted.
• Fill in respective financial year.
• Additionally, one needs to fill in TDS amount and deduction details.

Following these steps will resolve your confusion regarding how to file ITR with Form 16A. If confusion prevails, you can ask third party websites to help you with the same.

After filing TDS, you can check the status of the same by following the mentioned steps.

Step 1: Visit the TRACES website page for TSD status check. 

Step 2: Enter captcha code, TAN of deductor and PAN for the taxpayer and click on proceed

Step 3: Select the statement status option from the statement/payment tab

Step 4: Select validate option

Step 5: You can check status of TDS/TCS return using either of the following options-

• By entering, financial year, form type and quarter.
• By entering a token number of filed TDS Statement and clicking on the view statement status option.

These are some of the basic factors that individuals planning to download Form 16A must know.

Having a clear idea about the steps to file and check the status on the same will streamline the entire process. In addition, knowing how to claim TDS Form 16A will help make timely tax payments and avoid penalties.