Form 16 is now Form 130: what changes under the new Tax Act

Last updated: 23 October 2026 · By the Asuraa Team

Quick answer: Yes. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025, in force from 1 April 2026, the employer's salary TDS certificate Form 16 is now Form No. 130, issued under section 395(4)(b), according to the Income Tax Department's Form 130 FAQ. It applies to salary from tax year 2026-27 and is due by 15 June 2027. Salary for FY 2025-26 still came with the old Form 16.

Key takeaways

• Form 130 is the new name for Form 16, the employer's annual salary TDS certificate, under section 395(4)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
• The Income-tax Act, 2025 took effect on 1 April 2026, but salary for FY 2025-26 is still governed by the 1961 Act and came with a Form 16 due by 15 June 2026.
• Form 130 applies to salary from tax year 2026-27 (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027) and is due to employees by 15 June 2027.
• Form 26AS/AIS is now Form 168, Form 12BB is now Form 124, and the employer's quarterly salary TDS return Form 24Q is now Form 138.
• The new Act replaces 'previous year' and 'assessment year' with a single 'tax year' that matches the financial year for a full-year salaried employee.

Yes. For salary earned from 1 April 2026 onwards, the certificate your employer gives you for tax deducted at source (TDS) is called Form No. 130, not Form 16. The Income Tax Department's own Form 130 FAQ describes it as the TDS certificate that replaces Form 16, issued under section 395(4)(b) of the Income-tax Act, 2025 instead of section 203 of the 1961 Act.

The job of the document has not changed. It still shows what your employer paid you, which exemptions and deductions were allowed, how much tax was deducted and deposited, and it is still the paper you use to check your return. What changed is the name, the section numbers behind it and the year it talks about.

This is general information, not tax advice. For your own return, rely on the official pages linked here or a qualified tax professional.

Why did Form 16 become Form 130?

Form 16 became Form 130 because the Income-tax Act, 2025 replaced the Income-tax Act, 1961 from 1 April 2026, and the forms were renumbered under the new Income-tax Rules, 2026.

According to the e-filing portal's FAQ on the new Act, the 2025 Act has 536 sections and 16 schedules against 819 sections and 14 schedules in the old law, and the rules shrink from 511 rules and 399 forms to 333 rules and 190 forms. With fewer and differently numbered forms, almost every familiar form name changed. The same FAQ says the new Act does not impose any new tax, so the renumbering by itself does not change how much tax you pay.

What is the old-to-new form mapping a salaried employee needs?

A salaried fresher mostly deals with six documents, and each one now has a new number. The table below uses the department's own FAQ pages and its form mapping guide.

Bookmark this table. HR teams, payroll software and chartered accountants will use both sets of names for a while, and you will save yourself confusion by knowing they refer to the same thing.

Which year's salary gets Form 16 and which gets Form 130?

Salary for financial year 2025-26 (April 2025 to March 2026) is covered by the old Form 16, while salary for tax year 2026-27 (April 2026 to March 2027) onwards is covered by Form 130.

The reason is the transition rule. The new Act FAQ says the 1961 Act continues to govern any tax year that began before 1 April 2026. So income earned in FY 2025-26 is still assessed under the old law, and returns for it are filed on the old forms. India Briefing reported in June 2026 that employers had to keep issuing Form 16 for FY 2025-26 by 15 June 2026, and that Form 130 applies from tax year 2026-27.

If you joined your first job in, say, July 2026, your very first salary certificate will be a Form 130, and you will receive it in 2027.

What does "tax year" mean, and what happened to the assessment year?

The tax year is simply the financial year in which you earn the income, and the term "assessment year" is no longer used under the new Act.

Under the old law you earned income in a "previous year" and it was taxed in the following "assessment year", which is why people talked about "FY 2024-25, AY 2025-26" and got confused. The e-filing portal FAQ explains that a tax year is the 12 months of a financial year, so tax year 2026-27 runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. It can be shorter only when a new source of income starts during the year, for example a business set up mid-year. For a salaried person who works the full year, tax year and financial year are the same thing.

What is inside Form 130?

Form 130 has the same purpose as Form 16 and is split into three parts, as listed in the Form 130 FAQ.

1. Part A has the details of the deductor (your employer) and the deductee (you).
2. Part B is a summary that reconciles the amount paid or credited to you with the tax deducted.
3. Part C, Annexure-I is the salary computation: gross salary breakup, exemptions, deductions, total taxable income, tax payable, relief under section 157, TDS already paid and the net tax payable. (Annexure-II covers pension and interest paid by a bank to specified senior citizens.)

A few rules from the same FAQ matter for employees:

• Your employer must generate the certificate from TRACES after its quarterly TDS statement in Form 138 is filed and processed. A certificate prepared any other way is not valid.
• It can be signed digitally or by hand.
• You do not attach it to your income tax return, but you should keep it with your records.
• If something is wrong, the employer files a revised Form 138, and a corrected Form 130 is downloaded once that is processed.
• If you lose it, the employer can issue a duplicate, which must be marked as a duplicate.

If you want a refresher on how the old certificate reads line by line, our guide to Form 16 for freshers still applies to the structure, and the same logic carries over to Form 130.

What happens to Form 130 if you change jobs mid-year?

If you work for two employers in the same tax year, each employer issues Part A and Part B for the period you worked there, and Part C (the salary computation) can be issued by each employer or only by the last one, at your option, according to the Form 130 FAQ.

To avoid paying too little tax in the middle of the year, give your new employer your previous employer's salary and TDS details. The Form 124 FAQ says this is done in Form 122. Switching jobs is common in the first two years, so our guide on moving to your second job is worth reading alongside this.

How do you check Form 130 against Form 168 before filing?

You check that the TDS shown in Form 130 matches the TDS your employer reported against your PAN in Form 168, the statement formerly known as Form 26AS or AIS.

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to the e-filing portal at incometax.gov.in with your PAN.
2. Open the Annual Information Statement. The Form 168 FAQ lists three routes: "View Annual Information Statement (AIS)" under e-File and then Income Tax Returns, the AIS tab, or the AIS tile in the Compliance Portal.
3. Look at the TDS/TCS section in Part B and find your employer's TAN.
4. Compare the total TDS there with the TDS shown in Part B and Part C of Form 130.
5. Check the salary entry (shown in Annexure II of Form 168) against the gross salary in Form 130.
6. If the numbers differ, ask your payroll team to file a revised Form 138 before you file your return.

For the bigger picture on how monthly TDS is calculated, read TDS on salary explained for freshers, and when you are ready to file, follow our first-time ITR filing guide.

What do most guides on Form 16 becoming Form 130 get wrong?

The most common mistake is telling readers that Form 130 replaced Form 16 for the return they file in 2026. It did not. Salary for FY 2025-26 still comes with a Form 16 and is filed under the 1961 Act, as the department's FAQ makes clear through the transition rule. Form 130 starts with salary paid from April 2026.

A second mistake is assuming the new name means new tax slabs. The FAQ says the new Act does not impose any new tax, and the new regime is still the default (now under section 202 instead of 115BAC). Whether your tax goes up or down depends on the rates and deductions for that year, not on what the certificate is called. Our new tax regime guide for freshers covers how the regime choice works.

A third mistake is mixing up the declaration forms. Some articles name a different form for previous-employer details. The official Form 124 FAQ names Form 122 for previous-employer income and TDS, and Form 124 for your HRA, LTA, home-loan interest and investment proofs. If you skip Form 124, the FAQ notes, your employer deducts TDS without allowing those deductions or exemptions.

What should a fresher do now?

Your to-do list for tax year 2026-27 is short:

1. Check that your employer has your correct PAN, because Form 130 and Form 168 are both linked to it.
2. If you are in the old regime or claim HRA, submit Form 124 with proofs when payroll asks for it.
3. If you joined from another company this year, submit Form 122 with your previous employer's figures.
4. Read your monthly payslip so you know what TDS to expect. Our guide on how to read a salary slip helps here.
5. Expect Form 130 by 15 June 2027, then match it with Form 168 before you file.

For everything else about your first salary, from PF to budgeting, start with our money guide for freshers.

Related guides

• Money Guide for Freshers in India: Salary, Tax, PF and Investing
• Will the 50% wages rule reduce your take-home pay?

FAQ

Is Form 16 replaced by Form 130?

Yes, for salary earned from 1 April 2026. Under the Income-tax Act, 2025 and the Income-tax Rules, 2026, the employer's annual salary TDS certificate is Form No. 130, issued under section 395(4)(b). It contains the same kind of information as Form 16: your salary, exemptions, deductions and the tax deducted and deposited. Salary for FY 2025-26 still came with the old Form 16.

When will I get my first Form 130?

If you earn salary in tax year 2026-27, which runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, your employer must give you Form 130 by 15 June 2027. The certificate can only be generated from the TRACES portal after the employer files its quarterly salary TDS statement in Form 138 and that statement is processed.

What is Form 168 in income tax?

Form 168 is the Annual Information Statement, the statement formerly called Form 26AS or AIS, now under section 510 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. It shows the TDS, tax payments, high-value transactions, refunds and other information linked to your PAN for a year. You view it after logging in to incometax.gov.in through the AIS tab or the e-File menu.

Is assessment year still used under the new Income-tax Act?

No. The Income-tax Act, 2025 replaces the old pair of 'previous year' and 'assessment year' with one 'tax year', which is the 12 months of a financial year. Tax year 2026-27 runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. For earlier periods the old terms still apply, so FY 2025-26 income is still described with assessment year 2026-27.

Which form replaces Form 12BB for HRA and investment proofs?

Form No. 124 replaces Form 12BB. You give it to your employer, on paper or electronically, to claim HRA, LTA, interest on a housing loan and deductions under the relevant chapters, with supporting proofs. It is not uploaded to the tax portal. The official FAQ says that if you do not submit it, your employer deducts TDS without allowing those claims.

Does Form 130 change how much tax I pay?

No, the renumbering by itself does not change your tax. The e-filing portal's FAQ on the new Act says it does not impose any new tax, and the new tax regime remains the default, now under section 202. Your tax depends on your income, the regime you choose and the rates and deductions for the year, not on the certificate's name.

Final thoughts

Form 130 is Form 16 with a new number, a new section reference and a cleaner "tax year" label, and it applies to salary from April 2026 onwards. Keep the mapping table handy, match Form 130 with Form 168 before filing, and you will be fine. If you are still looking for that first salaried role, you can browse fresher openings on asuraa.in/jobs.