The government had also extended the last date of filing of the income tax return for FY20 till 30 November 2020.

The deadline for filing of TDS returns by the employers has been extended till 31 July and the date for issuance of Form 16 by the employers has been extended till August 15 due to the ongoing covid-19 crisis. Therefore, some of the employers who haven’t filed the TDS return yet may delay the issuance of Form 16, which is needed by the employees to file their income tax returns.

“As per the notification issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) due date for filing TDS returns for the quarter ending 31 March 2020 has been extended till 15 July, for government offices and 31 July for other deductors. Employees may have to wait till 15 August 2020 for their Form 16 for the financial year 2019-20," said Kapil Rana, founder and chairman, HostBooks Ltd, a cloud-based accounting and finance solutions providing firm.

Form 16 is needed by the employees to file income tax return, as it contains details of the salary received by the employee, the tax deducted by the employer and deduction availed by the employee.

Form 16 contains two parts—part A and part B. Part A comprises basic details of the employee such as name and address, PAN and TAN details, period of employment, details of TDS deducted and deposited with the government. Part B contains details of salary paid, any other income of the employee, deductions availed under chapter VI-A including section 80C details and tax payable by the employee, among others.

Employers cut TDS under section 192 of the Income Tax Act 1961 from employees’ salary, and they have to file the TDS return giving details of the salary paid and the TDS deducted.

Generally, employers are required to file the TDS return by the end of 31 May of the financial year immediately following the financial year in which the TDS has been deducted. For FY20, the deadline was initially extended to 30 June and now to 31 July.

Usually, within 15 days after filing the TDS return—that is by 15 June—employers have to issue Form 16 to the employees until and unless there is an extension of the deadline. This year the deadline was initially extended to 15 July and then to 15 August.

However, those who want to file their tax return early can do so using their salary slips and Form 26AS (it contains details of TDS deposited against a person’s PAN), however, the process may be a little tedious.

“It is possible for an employee to file income tax return without having the Form 16. Using the monthly salary slips, the employee can compute total salary, allowance, perquisites, the deductions allowed required at the time of filing ITR. Further, he can find his tax deduction details from Form 26AS, which is available on e-filing portal and can complete the return filing," said Rana.

However, without Form 16, the process becomes complicated, lengthy and also there are chances of errors.

Therefore, it will be better for you to wait for your Form 16 and file the income tax return in order to avoid any error.