What is the last date to issue Form 130?

Rule 215 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 requires the employer to issue Form 130 by 15 June after the end of the tax year — for tax year 2026-27, that is 15 June 2027. The certificate depends on the fourth-quarter salary statement (Form 138, due 31 May), so an employer who files the statement late will usually also miss the certificate date.

Can an employee download Form 16 or Form 130 from TRACES?

No. Only the deductor — the employer, using its TAN login — can request and download salary certificates from TRACES. An employee who has not received one should ask the employer. Meanwhile the employee can see the TDS reported against their PAN in the Annual Information Statement (Form 168, formerly Form 26AS) on the e-filing portal, which is enough to file the return.

What is the penalty if an employer does not issue Form 16 or Form 130?

Section 465(2)(g) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 lets the department levy a penalty of ₹500 a day for every day the failure to issue a TDS certificate continues, capped at the amount of tax deductible under section 465(3). The 1961 Act had the same daily penalty under section 272A(2)(g).

Do I need Form 16 or Form 130 if no tax was deducted?

The certificate is tied to tax deducted or paid on salary, so an employer is not obliged to issue one when no TDS was deducted. Many employers still give a salary statement. Without one, you can file the return from your payslips and the Annual Information Statement, reporting gross salary, exempt allowances and the standard deduction yourself.

I have two Form 130s from two employers — what do I do?

Add the salary and TDS from both when filing your return. Each employer gives the rebate and the lower slabs separately, so the combined tax is often higher than the TDS. Pay the shortfall as self-assessment tax before filing. Next time, give your new employer the old employer's salary and TDS in Form 122 so the right TDS is deducted during the year.

Income tax & TDS

Form 16 and the New Form 130: The Salary TDS Certificate Explained (2026)

Form 16 became Form 130 from tax year 2026-27. Parts A, B and C, the 15 June due date, TRACES download steps, multiple employers, penalties and worked ₹ examples.

Edited by Sumeet YadavFounder & editor, MSMETOOLS · fact-checked against official sources

Updated October 2026 Verified against official sources 9 October 2026 16 min read

Form 16 and Form 130 salary TDS certificate — MSMETOOLS guide cover

Contents (9)

1. Form 16 or Form 130: which one applies to you
2. What Form 130 contains: Parts A, B and C
3. Due date and who must issue it
4. How employers download Form 130 from TRACES
5. Worked examples
6. More than one employer in a year
7. Using Form 130 to file your return
8. Common problems and fixes
9. What to do next

Form 16 has been the document every salaried person in India asks HR for in June. From tax year 2026-27 it has a new name: Form 130, prescribed by the Income-tax Rules, 2026 under section 395(4) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. This guide is for employers who must issue it and employees who need it to file their return. It explains which certificate applies to which salary, what each part of Form 130 shows compared with the old Part A and Part B, the 15 June due date, how employers download it from TRACES, what changes when you have two employers, the penalty for not issuing it, and how to check it against your tax records before filing.

Quick answer

Form 16 is the annual certificate of tax deducted from salary. For salary paid up to 31 March 2026 it is still Form 16 under the 1961 Act. For salary paid from 1 April 2026 it is Form 130, issued under section 395(4) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 and rule 215 of the 2026 Rules. The employer downloads it from TRACES after filing the fourth-quarter salary statement and must give it to you by 15 June after the end of the tax year.

Tax year 2026-27 certificate: Form 130, due by 15 June 2027
Form 130 has Part A (who), Part B (quarter-wise TDS) and Part C (salary and tax computation)
Only the employer can download it — employees check TDS in their AIS (Form 168)
Two employers = two certificates; add them up when filing
Not issuing it: penalty of ₹500 a day, capped at the TDS amount

Form 16 or Form 130: which one applies to you

The switch follows the date salary is paid, not the date it is earned. The Income Tax Department's FAQs on the transition say salary is governed by the date of payment: salary paid up to 31 March 2026 is covered by section 192 of the 1961 Act, and salary paid from 1 April 2026 is covered by section 392 of the new Act. So the certificate for financial year 2025-26 — issued by employers in May and June 2026 — was Form 16. The certificate for tax year 2026-27, issued by June 2027, is Form 130.

There is one edge case. If an employer paid March 2026 salary in the first week of April 2026, the TDS on that payment falls under section 392 and belongs to tax year 2026-27. That salary therefore appears in the Form 130 for 2026-27, not in the 2025-26 Form 16. Employees who notice that their 2025-26 Form 16 shows eleven months of salary should check whether this is why.

Form 16 for 2025-26 still matters this year. It supports the return for assessment year 2026-27, and anyone who has not filed yet, or who needs to revise, will rely on it. The 1961 Act rules continue to govern it: Part A downloaded from TRACES, Part B prepared from the Form 24Q annexure, and corrections filed through Form 24Q correction statements. If your 2025-26 Form 16 is wrong, the employer fixes it in the old format; it cannot be reissued as a Form 130.

The rest of the family also changed. The non-salary certificate Form 16A became Form 131; the certificates for property purchase, rent paid by individuals and similar challan-cum-statement payments (Forms 16B, 16C, 16D, 16E) became Form 132; and the TCS certificate Form 27D became Form 133. The quarterly salary statement Form 24Q from which the salary certificate is generated is now Form 138.

Old forms and their 2026 replacements

Purpose	1961 Act / 1962 Rules	2025 Act / 2026 Rules
Annual salary TDS certificate	Form 16	Form 130
Quarterly salary TDS statement	Form 24Q	Form 138
Non-salary TDS certificate (quarterly)	Form 16A	Form 131
Certificate for challan-cum-statement deductions	Forms 16B, 16C, 16D, 16E	Form 132
Perquisite statement	Form 12BA	Form 123
Employee's claims and proofs	Form 12BB	Form 124
Previous employer / other income particulars	Form 12B	Form 122
Annual tax credit statement	Form 26AS	Form 168 (AIS)

Annual salary TDS certificate

1961 Act / 1962 Rules: Form 16
2025 Act / 2026 Rules: Form 130

Quarterly salary TDS statement

1961 Act / 1962 Rules: Form 24Q
2025 Act / 2026 Rules: Form 138

Non-salary TDS certificate (quarterly)

1961 Act / 1962 Rules: Form 16A
2025 Act / 2026 Rules: Form 131

Certificate for challan-cum-statement deductions

1961 Act / 1962 Rules: Forms 16B, 16C, 16D, 16E
2025 Act / 2026 Rules: Form 132

Perquisite statement

1961 Act / 1962 Rules: Form 12BA
2025 Act / 2026 Rules: Form 123

Employee's claims and proofs

1961 Act / 1962 Rules: Form 12BB
2025 Act / 2026 Rules: Form 124

Previous employer / other income particulars

1961 Act / 1962 Rules: Form 12B
2025 Act / 2026 Rules: Form 122

Annual tax credit statement

1961 Act / 1962 Rules: Form 26AS
2025 Act / 2026 Rules: Form 168 (AIS)

What Form 130 contains: Parts A, B and C

Old Form 16 had two parts. Part A came from TRACES and showed the employer's TAN and PAN, the employee's PAN, the period of employment and a quarter-wise summary of TDS deducted and deposited with receipt numbers. Part B was an annexure prepared from the employer's payroll data, showing gross salary, exempt allowances, perquisites, the standard deduction, deductions claimed, taxable income and the tax computation.

Form 130 reorganises this into three parts. Commentaries on the notified form describe them as follows. Part A holds the identity details of the deductor (the employer, or a specified bank for senior citizens) and the deductee, the tax year and a period-of-employment field. Part B is the TDS summary: quarter-wise amounts paid or credited, tax deducted including surcharge and cess, and tax deposited, linked to the challan receipt numbers. Part C carries annexures with the detailed computation — salary break-up, exemptions, deductions, taxable income, tax payable, any relief for arrears under section 157 and net tax — giving the employee a ready computation sheet. One annexure deals with senior citizens whose tax is deducted by a specified bank under section 393(1) Table Sl. No. 8(iii), which is why the same form serves banks as well as employers.

Rule 215 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 requires the certificate to be generated and downloaded from the portal specified by the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) — in practice TRACES — not built in an employer's own software. The data comes from the fourth-quarter Form 138 statement, which carries the full-year salary details. If the statement is wrong, the certificate is wrong; the fix is a correction statement, not an edited PDF.

Where perquisites are involved, employees whose salary exceeds ₹1,50,000 also get Form 123, the statement of perquisites and profits in lieu of salary required by section 392(5)(a). For lower salaries the perquisite details appear inside Form 130.

Office tower in HITEC City, Hyderabad, with floors lit up in the evening — Every employer whose staff have tax deducted must issue a salary TDS certificate after the year ends — Form 16 up to 2025-26, Form 130 from tax year 2026-27.· Image: Syced (CC0)

Due date and who must issue it

Section 395(4)(a) requires every person deducting tax to issue a certificate to the deductee showing the tax deducted, the rate and other prescribed particulars. Section 395(4)(b) adds a separate duty for an employer that pays the tax on an employee's non-monetary perquisites itself under section 392(2): it must certify the tax it paid. Rule 215(1) sets the form and deadline — Form 130 by 15 June after the end of the tax year, meaning 15 June of the financial year immediately after the tax year in which the salary was paid.

The deadline sits two weeks after the fourth-quarter statement is due on 31 May. The certificate can be downloaded only after TRACES processes the statement, so an employer that files Form 138 at the last minute leaves little room if the statement is processed with defaults. File the Q4 statement early in May if you can.

Rule 215 also lets the deductor sign certificates with a digital signature. Where it does, the contents must not be editable, each certificate must carry a control number, and the deductor must keep a log of certificates issued. Duplicates may be issued if the employee loses the original, marked as duplicates.

Any employer that deducted tax from salary must issue the certificate — a company, an LLP, a firm, a proprietor, a trust or a government office. Small employers sometimes assume a certificate is optional if only one or two staff had TDS; it is not.

How employers download Form 130 from TRACES

The Income Tax Department has not yet published a separate step-by-step guide for Form 130 downloads. The process for the old Form 16 is well established, and the steps below follow it; check the TRACES screens for any new menu names before you start.

Downloading the salary certificate from TRACES

1
Check the Q4 statement status
The Q4 Form 138 must show 'Statement processed with default' or 'without default' on TRACES. Resolve rejections first.
2
Log in to TRACES as deductor
Use the employer's user ID, password and TAN.
Open TRACES
3
Request the certificates
Under Downloads, choose the salary certificate, select the tax year, and request for one PAN or in bulk for all employees.
4
Pass KYC validation
Validate with a digital signature and the token number of the regular statement, or with challan and PAN details from the statement.
5
Collect the files
Track the request under Downloads → Requested Downloads; when it shows 'Available', download the zip file.
6
Convert, sign and send
Use the TRACES PDF generation utility to create the PDFs, sign digitally if you choose, and send each employee their certificate by 15 June.
Tip: Request statuses: Submitted, Available, Disabled (duplicate request), Failed, Not Available (PAN not in the statement).

Worked examples

1. Reading a Form 130. Arjun earns ₹15,00,000 a year in tax year 2026-27 under the new regime, with TDS of ₹8,125 a month (see the calculation in our TDS on salary guide). His Form 130 should show in Part B four quarters of ₹3,75,000 salary and ₹24,375 TDS each, adding up to ₹15,00,000 paid and ₹97,500 deducted and deposited. Part C should show gross salary ₹15,00,000, standard deduction ₹75,000, taxable income ₹14,25,000, tax ₹93,750 and cess ₹3,750. When he files his return in 2027, the TDS in his Annual Information Statement should match ₹97,500 to the rupee.

Part B (summary)	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Amount paid or credited	₹3,75,000	₹3,75,000	₹3,75,000	₹3,75,000	₹15,00,000
Tax deducted	₹24,375	₹24,375	₹24,375	₹24,375	₹97,500
Tax deposited	₹24,375	₹24,375	₹24,375	₹24,375	₹97,500

2. Changing jobs without telling the new employer. Riya earned ₹1,00,000 a month from April to September 2026 with her first employer, then ₹1,50,000 a month from October to March with the second. Her first employer assumed she would stay all year at ₹12 lakh; after the ₹75,000 standard deduction her estimated income of ₹11,25,000 was within the ₹12 lakh rebate limit, so it deducted nothing. Her second employer saw only ₹9,00,000 of salary for its six months, also within the rebate, and also deducted nothing. Her two Form 130s show nil TDS.

Her real income for the year is ₹15,00,000, taxable ₹14,25,000 after one standard deduction, and tax with cess ₹97,500. She now owes all of it when filing, plus interest for not paying advance tax. Had she given the second employer her first job's salary in Form 122 in October, the second employer would have spread ₹97,500 over six months — about ₹16,250 a month — and her return would show nothing to pay.

3. Late certificates. A small manufacturer with 40 staff files its Q4 Form 138 on 10 June 2027 and issues Form 130 on 5 July, twenty days late. For each employee with TDS, the department can levy ₹500 a day for each day of delay — ₹10,000 per certificate for twenty days — capped at the TDS on that employee. It also owes the Form 138 late fee of ₹200 a day for the ten days the statement was late, ₹2,000, capped at the TDS in the statement. Filing the Q4 statement in early May avoids both.

Blue glass office blocks of Tidel Park in Chennai rising above trees — Employees who switch jobs mid-year get one certificate from each employer — and often a tax shortfall when they add them up.· Image: Jbritto (CC BY 2.5)

More than one employer in a year

Rule 215(2) deals with job changes directly. Each employer issues Parts A and B of Form 130 for the period the employee worked with it. Part C, the detailed computation, can be issued by each employer separately or only by the last employer, at the employee's option. If you want one consolidated computation, give your last employer the earlier salary, exemptions claimed and TDS in Form 122 and ask it to issue Part C covering the full year.

Whatever the certificates show, your return must report total salary from all employers, take only one standard deduction, and apply the slabs and rebate once. This is where most surprise tax bills come from: two employers each giving you the benefit of the lower slabs and the rebate. Before filing, add up gross salary from all certificates, subtract the exemptions you are entitled to, and recompute the tax. If there is a shortfall, pay it as self-assessment tax before you file. If an employer deducted too much — for example because it applied the old regime and you choose the new one in the return — the excess comes back as a refund.

Using Form 130 to file your return

Form 130 is not attached to the return; it is a reference document. The return pre-fills salary details from the employer's statement, and the TDS credit you get is the amount shown in your Annual Information Statement (Form 168, which replaced Form 26AS for tax year 2026-27). The return for tax year 2026-27 for a salaried individual without audit is due by 31 July 2027.

Before filing, check four things. First, your PAN and the employer's TAN on the certificate are correct. Second, the TDS in Part B matches the TDS in your AIS for the same TAN. Third, the gross salary and the exemptions in Part C match your payslips; allowances you did not claim during the year but are entitled to under the old regime — for example HRA where you submitted rent receipts late — can still be claimed in the return. Fourth, your regime: if your employer applied the old regime but the new regime gives you lower tax, you can choose the new one in the return because you have no business income.

If the TDS on your certificate is not in your AIS, the employer either did not deposit it or reported it against a wrong PAN or wrong quarter. You cannot claim credit for TDS that is not in the AIS. Ask the employer to file a correction statement for the quarter. Section 397(3)(f) allows corrections within two years from the end of the tax year in which the statement was due. Corrections for periods under the old Act — including the 2025-26 Form 24Q behind your Form 16 — are filed in the old formats even after 1 April 2026.

Check your Form 130 before filing

0/8

Common problems and fixes

"My employer says Form 130 isn't available on TRACES yet." The Q4 statement may not be filed or processed, or it may have been rejected. Ask for the token number and status. The employer can still give you a salary computation; TDS credit follows the AIS, not the PDF.

Wrong PAN on the certificate. The TDS sits against someone else's PAN and won't reach your AIS. The employer must file a correction to Form 138 for each quarter, after which a fresh certificate can be downloaded.

Employer deducted TDS but did not deposit it. Your certificate shows TDS, your AIS does not. Section 401 bars the department from demanding tax that was deducted from you, but in practice you will have to show proof of deduction such as payslips and the certificate. Raise it with the employer first and keep records.

Old-format certificate for the new year. A "Form 16" issued for salary paid after 1 April 2026 is the wrong form, and certificates prepared outside the portal are not valid under rule 215. Ask the employer for a Form 130 generated from TRACES.

Lost certificate. Ask the employer for a duplicate; rule 215(3) allows one, marked as a duplicate.

Official links

What to do next

Employers: put the Q4 Form 138 on your May calendar, then request Form 130 for all employees together and send them out well before 15 June. Our TDS return filing guide explains the statement, the late fee and corrections. Employees: when your certificate arrives, run through the checklist above and match it with your AIS before filing. If you are still in the year, check whether your monthly TDS is on track with our TDS on salary guide, and keep payslips organised with our free salary slip generator.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, for salary paid on or after 1 April 2026. Under the Income-tax Rules, 2026, the annual salary TDS certificate is Form 130, issued under section 395(4) of the Income-tax Act, 2025. Form 16 under the 1962 Rules remains the right certificate for salary paid up to 31 March 2026, so employees saw Form 16 for 2025-26 in June 2026 and will see Form 130 for tax year 2026-27 in June 2027.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 9 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1.The Income-tax Act, 2025 (Act No. 30 of 2025), Gazette of India Extraordinary, 21 August 2025 — Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department) · accessed 9 October 2026
2.TDS Compliance — e-Filing help (FAQs on the transition to the Income-tax Act, 2025) — Income Tax Department (e-Filing portal) · accessed 9 October 2026
3.Form 138 — user manual — Income Tax Department (e-Filing portal) · accessed 9 October 2026
4.Rule 215, Income-tax Rules 2026 — certificates of TDS/TCS — TaxHeal (reproducing the notified rule) · accessed 9 October 2026
5.Form 130 Income Tax Rules 2026 — key points — TaxHeal · accessed 9 October 2026
6.Form 130 TDS certificate for salary replacing Form 16 — TaxGuru · accessed 9 October 2026
7.How to download Form 16 (Part A and Part B) from TRACES — Quicko · accessed 9 October 2026
8.Rethinking payroll under India's Income Tax Rules 2026 — India Briefing (Dezan Shira & Associates) · accessed 9 October 2026

MSMETOOLS is an independent platform and is not affiliated with any government agency, ministry or department.

We provide tools, guides and information for general educational purposes only. Always refer to official government websites for the latest and most accurate information.