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India to Replace Form 16 With TRACES-Generated Form 130 From April 2026

The shift moves salary tax reporting to system-checked data to cut return mismatches.

Overview

  • Form 130 replaces the employer TDS certificate known as Form 16 from April 1, 2026 under the Income-tax Rules, 2026.
  • The new certificate has three parts covering identification details, a salary and TDS summary, and a step-by-step computation of taxable income.
  • TRACES, the government portal that reconciles TDS data, will generate Form 130 only after quarterly employer filings are processed.
  • Employers cannot issue the certificate manually, which makes timely and accurate payroll filings crucial.
  • Redesigned ITR forms aligned with the Income-tax Act, 2025 will demand more precise capital gains and asset disclosures and will leave less room for manual edits.