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You cannot download Form 16 or Form 16A from a taxpayer TRACES login. The employer or other deductor that deducted tax must request the certificate through its registered deductor account, download the generated file, convert it with the official TRACES PDF Generation Utility when required, and issue the finished certificate to you.
If your certificate is missing, contact the employer or deductor first. A taxpayer account is not an alternative download route.
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Who can download Form 16 and Form 16A?
TRACES permits a registered deductor to request these certificates. A deductor is the party that withheld tax and reported the deduction in a TDS statement—for example, your employer for salary TDS or another payer for non-salary TDS.
The taxpayer can view tax-related information through the services available to a taxpayer account, but the certificate-download workflow described by TRACES belongs to the deductor account. The deductor requests the certificate for the relevant PANs, retrieves the generated file from Requested Downloads, converts it if necessary, and gives the certificate to the taxpayer.
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That distinction answers the common question, “I am a taxpayer, my deductor has not issued Form 16 to me, and I want to download it from TRACES?” The practical answer is to ask the deductor to issue it; do not expect a taxpayer login to produce the certificate.
Form 16 versus Form 16A
The correct certificate depends on the type of income on which tax was deducted.
| Certificate | Underlying deduction | Who normally issues it | How it is generated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form 16 | Salary TDS under section 192 | Employer | Generated by the TDS Centralized Processing Cell after the employer’s filed statement is processed |
| Form 16A | TDS under provisions other than section 192 | The relevant non-salary deductor or payer | Generated by the TDS Centralized Processing Cell after the deductor’s filed statement is processed |
Form 16A requests are tied to a particular financial year, quarter, form type and statement. The Form 16 workflow also depends on the employer’s filed TDS data, but the detailed TRACES tutorial for Form 16A makes the quarter-specific selection and authentication requirements especially explicit.
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For example, salary tax withheld by an employer belongs on Form 16, while tax withheld by a payer on a non-salary payment belongs on Form 16A. If you received salary from two employers, each employer issues its own Form 16 for the period it paid you. Likewise, separate banks, clients or tenants that deducted tax issue separate Form 16A certificates for their own reported payments.
What must be true before a deductor requests a certificate?
- The deductor must have a registered TRACES deductor account.
- The relevant TDS statement must have been filed and processed. For Form 16A, TRACES guidance says the statement can be processed either with or without a default.
- Your PAN must be valid and must have been reported in that TDS statement. TRACES does not generate a certificate for an invalid PAN or a PAN that was not reported.
- The deductor must have the statement details and authentication information requested by the portal.
If any of these conditions is missing, the request may fail or no certificate may be generated even though tax was deducted in practice. The deductor should first check the statement and PAN data rather than repeatedly submitting the same request.
Before contacting the deductor, gather the details that help identify the transaction: your PAN exactly as reported, the financial year, the quarter for a Form 16A request, the employer or payer’s name, and the approximate date or nature of the payment. These details help the deductor select the correct statement instead of requesting a certificate for the wrong period or payer.
How a deductor requests Form 16 or Form 16A on TRACES
1. Sign in with the deductor account
Open the official TRACES portal and sign in using the registered deductor credentials. The taxpayer’s login does not provide the certificate-request function.
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Before starting a Form 16A request, check the status of the relevant TDS statement. The TRACES tutorial requires the statement to be processed, either with or without default. If processing is incomplete, resolve the filing or processing issue first and then return to the certificate request.
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3. Open Downloads and choose the certificate
Go to Downloads and select the relevant Form 16 or Form 16A option shown for the account. For Form 16A, the tutorial describes two request routes: Search PAN download for selected PANs and Bulk PAN when certificates are requested for multiple PANs.
Search PAN is useful when the deductor needs a certificate for a particular recipient. Bulk PAN is intended for a request covering multiple reported PANs. Whichever route is used, select only the financial year, quarter and statement that contain the relevant deduction.
4. Enter the statement and authentication details
Complete the fields requested by TRACES. For Form 16A, the tutorial calls for the original statement token number and matching financial year, quarter, form type and KYC details. Enter the information manually as instructed; do not copy and paste those details into the form. A mismatch between the selected period, statement and authentication data can prevent the request from being accepted.
Use the original statement token number, not a number from a different correction or quarter. Check every character before submission. A correct PAN paired with the wrong statement can still result in no certificate, because TRACES generates the document from the selected processed statement.
5. Record the request number
Submit the request and save the request number. It is the reference you use to monitor processing and retrieve the file. Losing it makes it harder to identify the correct request when several certificates are pending. The deductor can save a screenshot or record the number in its internal TDS file, while avoiding disclosure of credentials.
6. Monitor Requested Downloads
Open Requested Downloads to check the request status. Submitted means TRACES is still processing it. Available means the generated file can be downloaded. A request may not become available immediately; the Form 16A tutorial gives 24–48 hours for some submitted requests, but that is guidance for those requests, not a guaranteed service level for every case.
Do not treat a Submitted status as proof that the certificate has failed. Check again later using the same request number. If the status changes to Available, download the file promptly and retain the original. If it remains pending, review the statement status and any message displayed by the portal before making another request.
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Download the file only after its status changes to Available. Keep the original download unchanged until conversion is complete and the resulting certificates have been checked. Do not rename or modify the contents while trying to troubleshoot; the utility may require the file in the format supplied by TRACES.
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8. Convert the file with the TRACES PDF Generation Utility
TRACES may provide certificate data that is not yet an individual, readable PDF. Use the latest official TRACES PDF Generation Utility to create the certificate PDFs.
The general TRACES FAQ describes a text file that the utility converts into separate PDFs for the requested PANs. The detailed Form 16A tutorial describes its downloadable file as a ZIP and instructs users not to extract it before conversion. Because the portal’s file packaging and utility instructions can change, follow the current utility’s instructions for the file type actually supplied on your request. If the current Form 16A instructions identify a ZIP as the input, leave that ZIP intact unless the utility specifically tells you otherwise.
After conversion, open each PDF and confirm that it is legible and corresponds to the intended PAN. A bulk request can produce separate certificates, so the deductor should match each file to the correct recipient before distribution. Retain both the untouched TRACES download and the converted PDFs in the deductor’s records.
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The authorized person may digitally sign the certificate during conversion when the utility and account setup support that option. TRACES identifies the deductor’s responsible person as the signing authority. After conversion and signing, the deductor sends the completed certificate to the taxpayer.
The signing step belongs to the deductor. A taxpayer should not add a signature, annotate the document or alter fields after receiving it. If the deductor’s process uses a printed certificate rather than a digital signature, retain the version actually issued by the authorized person.
How the taxpayer receives the certificate
The taxpayer’s action is to request the document from the employer or other deductor, not to recreate it from a taxpayer portal. Give the deductor the correct PAN and identify the financial year or quarter needed. If you worked for more than one employer or received payments from several deductors, each relevant deductor must issue its own certificate for the tax it deducted.
When the deductor sends the PDF, check that your name and PAN are correct, that the financial year or period matches your records, and that the certificate relates to the income payer who actually withheld the tax. Keep the original electronic file and any printed copy supplied by the deductor.
Compare the certificate with payslips, interest statements, invoices, payment records and the tax-credit information available to you. A mismatch should be raised with the deductor promptly. The taxpayer cannot fix an underlying TDS statement by editing the certificate.
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What to do when Form 16 or Form 16A is missing
If you are the taxpayer
- Contact the employer or other deductor that deducted the tax.
- State the relevant financial year and, for a non-salary deduction, the quarter and payment type if known.
- Ask the deductor to verify that your PAN was reported correctly in the TDS statement.
- Ask the deductor to make the TRACES request, retrieve the file from Requested Downloads, convert it and issue the certificate.
Opening or registering a taxpayer TRACES account will not bypass the deductor’s responsibility. If a former employer or payer is involved, use its payroll, finance or tax-contact channel and retain your written request so the missing certificate can be followed up.
If you are the deductor
- Confirm that the statement for the selected financial year and quarter has been processed.
- Check that the PAN is valid and appears in the filed TDS statement.
- Recheck the original statement token number, form type, period and KYC details for a Form 16A request.
- Use the request number to monitor Requested Downloads rather than creating duplicate requests immediately.
- Wait for the status to become Available when it remains Submitted; some tutorial-described requests take 24–48 hours.
Common TRACES problems and fixes
The request is rejected or no certificate is generated
The most direct checks are the PAN and the statement. TRACES says a certificate is not generated for an invalid or unreported PAN. Verify the PAN character by character against the deductor’s records and confirm that it was included in the relevant TDS statement. If the statement data is wrong, the deductor may need to file a correction statement before requesting the certificate again.
The statement is not eligible yet
A certificate request depends on processing of the filed statement. Check the statement status first. For Form 16A, the tutorial specifically requires processed status, with or without default. A request submitted before processing is complete may not produce a file.
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Submitted does not mean the file is ready. Check Requested Downloads again later using the request number. The 24–48-hour period mentioned in the Form 16A tutorial applies to some requests and should not be treated as a universal promise. If the request remains pending beyond a reasonable interval, the deductor should review the statement status and any portal message before submitting another request.
The download is a text file or ZIP instead of a PDF
This is a conversion step, not necessarily a failed request. Use the latest TRACES PDF Generation Utility. For a text-file workflow, the utility creates separate PDFs for the requested PANs. For the Form 16A workflow described in the tutorial, use the downloaded ZIP as directed and do not extract it before conversion unless the current utility instructions require extraction.
The PDF appears locked or contains an error
Do not edit the certificate manually. TRACES states that the certificate is non-editable. If Form 16 Part A or Form 16A contains an error, the deductor must file a correction statement where required and then generate the corrected certificate through TRACES. Editing the PDF would not correct the underlying TDS record and could make the document unreliable.
The portal labels look different
TRACES screens and utility instructions can change. The detailed Form 16A tutorial reflects a particular interface, while the portal’s current notices may use updated labels. Follow the labels displayed in the current official portal, preserve the request number, and use the current utility documentation for the downloaded file type.
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Form 16 and Form 16A: a practical decision guide
| Your situation | Certificate to request | Person who must request and issue it |
|---|---|---|
| Your employer deducted tax from salary | Form 16 | Your employer, through its registered deductor account |
| A payer deducted tax from interest, professional fees, rent or another non-salary payment | Form 16A | The payer or other deductor that reported the deduction |
| You have several employers or deductors | The applicable certificate from each deductor | Each deductor separately |
The table identifies the workflow, not a substitute for checking the transaction’s actual TDS provision. Form 16 is associated with salary TDS under section 192; Form 16A is used for TDS under other provisions.
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Security and record-keeping checks
- Send your PAN and personal details only to the employer or deductor that needs them for the certificate.
- Download the file from the deductor’s authenticated TRACES account, not from an unsolicited third-party link.
- Keep the original TRACES output and the final converted PDF so the source file can be consulted if a conversion problem occurs.
- Compare the certificate with your payslips, payment records and tax-credit information before relying on it for a tax return.
- Do not alter a generated certificate. Request a correction through the deductor when the data is wrong.
- When sending a certificate by email, use the recipient’s verified address and avoid sharing unrelated tax documents in the same message.
Current-year caution for FY 2026–27 and later
The TRACES welcome page, reviewed and updated 1 April 2026, carries a transition notice stating that compliance for financial year 2026–27 onward is under the Income-tax Act, 2025. Portal wording, certificate requirements and year-specific instructions can therefore differ from earlier years. Before relying on a rule tied to a particular financial year, check the current notice and instructions displayed on the official TRACES portal. The core download principle remains the same in the documented workflow: the deductor requests and issues the certificate, while the taxpayer cannot self-download Form 16 through a taxpayer TRACES login.
Final checklist
- Identify whether the deduction was salary TDS (Form 16) or another type of TDS (Form 16A).
- Contact the correct employer or deductor.
- Ask the deductor to confirm statement processing and PAN reporting.
- For a Form 16A request, match the financial year, quarter, form type, original statement token number and KYC details.
- Save the request number and monitor Requested Downloads until the status is Available.
- Convert the downloaded text file or ZIP with the current TRACES PDF Generation Utility as instructed.
- Have the authorized deductor sign and issue the completed certificate.
- Check the name, PAN, period and payer after receiving it.
- For errors, request a correction statement; never edit the PDF yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I download Form 16 directly from my taxpayer TRACES account?
No. TRACES assigns the certificate request and download workflow to the registered deductor. Ask your employer to request and issue Form 16.
Who issues Form 16A?
The payer or other deductor that withheld and reported the non-salary TDS must request Form 16A through its deductor account and issue it to you.
Why did TRACES give the deductor a ZIP or text file?
The generated output may require conversion. The deductor should use the latest TRACES PDF Generation Utility and follow the current instructions for that file type.
How long does a TRACES request take?
A request first shows Submitted and later Available. The Form 16A tutorial mentions 24–48 hours for some requests, but this is not a universal service guarantee.
What if my PAN is missing or wrong?
TRACES does not generate a certificate for an invalid or unreported PAN. Ask the deductor to verify the filed statement and submit a correction where necessary.
Can I edit an incorrect Form 16A PDF?
No. TRACES treats the certificate as non-editable. The deductor must correct the underlying TDS statement and generate a corrected certificate.
Do separate employers issue separate Form 16 certificates?
Yes. Each employer issues the certificate for the salary TDS it reported. Other payers issue their own Form 16A for their deductions.
What should I do if the portal screen does not match an older tutorial?
Use the labels and instructions currently displayed on the official TRACES portal and the latest PDF Generation Utility documentation.
The Bottom Line
Taxpayers cannot self-download Form 16 or Form 16A from TRACES. The relevant employer or deductor must request it, wait until the request is Available, convert the supplied file with the official utility, correct any underlying errors through a statement correction, and issue the certificate to you.
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