If you are an employee, then by now you should have received your Form 16. This form is important to you from the tax filing point of view, as it shows how much TDS has been paid on your behalf by your employer through the year, by deducting it from your salary on a monthly basis. This form is your proof of TDS.
However not everyone understands or even goes through their Form 16 to see if everything is correct. Let’s go through the different components of this very important form, and we’ll see how simple it all really is.
Components of your Form 16
The first page of your Form 16 will begin with relevant details under Part A, such as:
- Your employer’s name and address
- Your employer’s Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Tax Deduction Account Number (TAN)
- Your name and designation
- Your PAN
- Which year the Form 16 is for (for the period 01/04/2010 to 31/03/2011), as per assessment year 2011-12
It will move on to provide a tabular summary of your tax deducted per quarter.
The tax deducted by your employer and the tax remitted by your employer on your behalf should be equal. If the company you are working for deducts tax from you, and does not pay it to the Government on time, then the company has to pay 1.50% interest per month of delayed payment.
Even if the company does not deduct tax from you or accidentally deducts less tax from you than it should, it still has to pay tax to the Government, which it will then recover from you.
The tax deducted by your employer and the tax remitted by your employer on your behalf should be equal. If the company you are working for deducts tax from you, and does not pay it to the Government on time, then the company has to pay 1.50% interest per month of delayed payment.
Even if the company does not deduct tax from you or accidentally deducts less tax from you than it should, it still has to pay tax to the Government, which it will then recover from you.
We move on to Part B – Details of Salary Paid and Any Other Income And Tax Deducted
Part B begins with your Gross Salary – how much you have earned during the year. Your Gross Salary can be found by going through your full financial year’s salary slips (April 2010 to March 2011 – both months included), and adding any additional income such as perquisites, or variable pay i.e. Performance Linked Pay (PLP) that you might have received during the year.
You should also include any “Profits in lieu of Salary” such as the full and final settlement in case of resignation / termination from a former employer, or if you are covered under a Keyman Insurance Policy and you have received a payout from the policy, or from a provident fund.
You should subtract any meal coupons you have opted for during the year as this is not taxable income.
Part B begins with your Gross Salary – how much you have earned during the year. Your Gross Salary can be found by going through your full financial year’s salary slips (April 2010 to March 2011 – both months included), and adding any additional income such as perquisites, or variable pay i.e. Performance Linked Pay (PLP) that you might have received during the year.
You should also include any “Profits in lieu of Salary” such as the full and final settlement in case of resignation / termination from a former employer, or if you are covered under a Keyman Insurance Policy and you have received a payout from the policy, or from a provident fund.
You should subtract any meal coupons you have opted for during the year as this is not taxable income.
So,
Gross Salary = Total Monthly Gross Salary received
+ Gross Performance Linked Pay received, if any
+ Gross Perquisites received, if any
+ Gross Profits in lieu of salary received, if any
- Meal Coupons opted for, if any
+ Gross Performance Linked Pay received, if any
+ Gross Perquisites received, if any
+ Gross Profits in lieu of salary received, if any
- Meal Coupons opted for, if any
Remember, your gross salary is taxable.
The next step is to deduct your allowed deductions.
These include, subject to their own rules, the following:
- Conveyance Allowance (
800 per month maximum) - Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) that you have claimed during the year, supported with actual travel bills
- Medical Allowance that you have claimed during the year, supported with actual medicine bills
- House Rent Allowance (HRA), supported with actual rent receipts
- Payment from an approved Superannuation Fund / Provident Fund
- Amount received due to Voluntary Retirement
- Retrenchment compensation
… and so on.
If you have a home loan on which you are paying EMI, this should be incorporated under ‘Income from House Property’ as a negative figure, as it is not an income but an expense for you. Your EMI has 2 components in it, interest payment and principal repayment. Each one is tax deductible up to a certain limit, depending on whether your property is self occupied or you have leased it out. If it is self occupied, interest payment is tax deductible up to 1,50,000 per financial year, and principal repayment is tax deductible up to 1,00,000 per financial year. If it is leased out (aka let out property), interest payment is fully deductible, principal is deductible up to 1,00,000 per financial year, and the rental income you have received is added to your total income for the year.
1,50,000 per financial year, and principal repayment is tax deductible up to 1,00,000 per financial year. If it is leased out (aka let out property), interest payment is fully deductible, principal is deductible up to 1,00,000 per financial year, and the rental income you have received is added to your total income for the year.Countinue Reading:
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