Taxpayers can file their income tax returns even without the inclusion of Form 16.
Form 16/16A is a certificate for all the tax that has been deducted at the source by the employer in the form of Tax Deducted at Source/Tax Collected at Source on behalf of the employees from their salaries.
The form also includes the list of deductions that have been made, if any, as admissible under the Income Tax Act.
While all taxpayers must be issued a Form 16, often the form may be delayed in delivery due to full and final clearance taking upwards of 45 days in case of exit of an employee from a company.
In this situation, the taxpayers can use their salary slips, which will have a breakdown of the salary components as well as all deductions made.
Generally, taxpayers are required to file ITR by July 31 of any year (unless extended by the government).
ITR filing is an annual activity seen as a duty of every responsible citizen of the nation. A person can claim the refund of the excess tax paid/deducted during a financial year by filing an ITR for that year.
The I-T department has established an independent portal for the e-filing of income tax returns. The Income Tax Department has recently notified six forms for filing ITR this year along with ITR-V and ITR acknowledgement form.