Don't have Form 16? Here's how you can file your income tax returns

The first step to filing tax returns as a salaried individual is to obtain Form 16 from your employer. But what if there are instances where the taxpayer doesn't have the Form 16 for the current year? It could be because your employer is closing his business or perhaps because you left the job without completing proper exit formalities. So, here are some ways to file your return without the Form 16

Collect all Payslips
Make sure to collect all the salary slips. In case, you have switched jobs one or more times in the same financial year, make sure to gather all payslips of the assessment year from all the previous jobs.
From this year on, the government has made it mandatory to fill in 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.

Rent receipts
Most employers have a component in salary known as House Rent Allowance (HRA). It is especially helpful for those employees who reside in rented houses. To claim this deduction in tax, the employees need to submit their rent receipts to employer in advance. In case, you didn't, you can claim it while filing.

Other deductions
An individual can claim deductions on 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.
One should note that every deduction has a limit up to which you can avail it. Beyond that your amount is taxable.
The taxpayer should add up all the available deductions and their relevant proofs.
 

Other income
An individual should make a list of income he earns from other sources, like a part time business venture, rent earned from property and even interest earned from fixed deposits should be mentioned under the taxable income.

Calculate total tax and tax liability
After collecting all these documents, you will have to calculate the total tax. All incomes should be added and deductions should be subtracted.
Also, keep in mind your income tax liability on the total taxable income. In case you find that the total tax paid is less than what is actually payable as per the Form 26AS, one can pay the variance online.
 

File your return