It is that time of the year again when everyone is getting ready to file their income tax return (ITR) before the due date. For a salaried person, Form 16 is a basic document used for filing ITR every year. Filing one's income tax return without Form 16 seems almost impossible to most salaried individuals.

However, there may be circumstances in which you don't get your Form 16. It could be because your employer is closing his business or you are leaving the job without completing proper exit formalities. But don't worry. Even if you don't have Form 16, there are several documents you can use as reference to file your return.

Here's a step-wise guide on how salaried people who don't have Form 16 can file their ITR:

Step 1: Compute Income from Salary
For computation of salary income, your salary slips will be the main source of information. So, do remember to collect your monthly pay-slips from all the employers you have worked with during the year. From this year onwards (i.e., for return filed for FY 17-18 and onwards), you need to provide complete breakup of your salary in your ITR. The fields required to be filled are - Salary/Pension, Allowances not exempt, Value of perquisites, Profit in lieu of Salary, and deductions claimed under section 16. Your salary slips should normally provide these figures. However, many companies don't provide the amount of 'value of perquisites' and amount of 'profit in lieu of salary' in salary slips. In that case, you need to contact the HR or accounts department of the employer concerned. Apart from the information mentioned above, your salary slips reflect the value of all the allowances given to you, the provident fund (PF) deducted, tax deducted at source (TDS), and so on.

Do make use of allowances which help you reduce your tax liability like HRA, transport allowance, LTA etc. However, while computing allowances, be careful as some allowances are partially exempt and some are fully.

Step 2 : Match the TDS deducted with your Form 26AS
Form 26AS contains the details of TDS deducted not only on your salary income but also on other incomes. It is important to cross check your TDS with the figures shown in your Form 26AS as there could be some discrepancies. If discrepancies exist, then you need to contact your deductor. So, do match the TDS amounts shown in your Form 26AS with the respective sources like TDS on salary with the salary slip, TDS on fixed deposits (FDs) with the interest certificate etc.

Step 3: Compute Income from house property
If you are receiving any rental income from letting the house property owned by you, then you need to report it under this head. Further, if you availed any housing loan either on the let out property or on self-occupied property and paying interest on such loan, then you will get deduction of the same under this head. Additionally, if you own two or more houses then you need to check the deemed let-out concept first. If you are one who is earning rental income, then you can avail a flat deduction of 30 percent and deduction of municipal tax paid (if any) from your rental income.

Step 4: Compute Income from capital gains
In case of gain from the sale of equities, equity-oriented mutual funds you need to obtain a summary statement from your broker and you will be glad to know that in such case the gain shall be exempt if it is held for more than 1 year and, if they were sold on or before March 31, 2018. In case of gain from the sale of land or building, you need to have the purchase and sale deed handy from where you can take accurate values for calcu ..

Step 5: Compute Income from other sources
Income from other sources includes interest on various bank deposits (savings, recurring deposits, FDs, or any other term deposit), interest on income tax refund, and so on. You can refer to your bank passbook to know about the interest income and Form 26AS for interest on income tax refund.

Step 6 : Claim all available deductions
The various sections of the Income-tax Act under which an individual can claim deductions are section 80C (life insurance, PF, equity-linked savings schemes, Public Provident Fund, principal repayment of home loan and so on), 80D (medical insurance premium) and so on. Every deduction has a specified limit up to which you can avail it. For instance, -section 80C can be claimed up to Rs 1. 5 lakh. So, add up all the available deductions .

Step 7: Compute total taxable income
Now, you are about to reach the final stage. The deductions shall be subtracted from the total of income from various sources and the final figure will be your total taxable income.

Step 8 : Calculate your income tax liability
Determine your income tax liability on the total taxable income. Click here to use our income tax calculator.

Step 9: Pay additional tax (if required)
If your total tax liability is more than the amount of tax paid as per your Form 26AS, then you have to pay the excess amount to the tax department.

Step 10: File your ITR
Now, you are good to go to e-file your income tax return without Form 16.Just don't forget to e-verify the same within 120 days of filing.

What you should do
Even if you do not have your Form 16 for the year, you just need these documents to file your ITR. Follow the above explained process and you are ready to go. Further, remember to file your ITR within due date or be ready to pay late filing fees under section 234F for income tax returns of FY 17-18 and onwards.