As per the Income Tax Act, 1961, it is mandatory to file an Income Tax Return (ITR) if your taxable income is more than the basic exemption limit. At this time, Form 16 plays a key role for salaried employees. This document contains all the necessary details about your salary, tax deductions, and payments made to the government by your employer.

But what if you don’t have Form 16 and you are under the legal obligation to file your return? In such a situation, you can still file your ITR accurately using a few alternative documents. Let’s check out 10 essential documents you must use.

1. Bank statements

Obtain a soft/ hard copy of the bank statements of all your active accounts. Get them for the period starting from April 1st to March 31st of the relevant financial year.

Using these statements, you can easily identify the miscellaneous sources of your taxable income, such as:

• Interest earned from fixed deposits (FDs) with banks and NBFCs
• Dividend received
• Rental income, and more.

Be aware that you have to declare such incomes under the head ‘Income from Other Sources’ while filing your ITR.

2. Home and education loan certificates

These certificates clearly show the interest and principal paid on loans. You can use them to claim deductions under:

• Section 80C for the principal amount of the home loan
• Section 24 for the interest paid on the home loan
• Section 80E for the interest paid on education loan

3. HRA receipts and LTA expenses reimbursement

For the unaware, these are proofs of rent paid and travel expenses that are eligible for exemption. While filing your ITR, you can use:

• House Rent Allowance (HRA) receipts to claim house rent allowance
• Leave Travel Allowance (LTA) proofs to claim exemptions for travel reimbursements

4. Payslips or salary slips

Payslips show detailed breakdowns of salary components such as basic pay, allowances, and deductions. Combine all the payslips for the entire financial year and use them to calculate your taxable salary income. As per the tax laws, you will be required to report it under the head ‘Income from Salary’.

5. CTC breakup

This is a document showing a detailed Cost-to-Company (CTC) structure. It shows your taxable and tax-exempt components. You can use it to identify exemptions like HRA, LTA, and several deductions.

6. Form 26AS

It is a consolidated tax statement showing TDS deducted and taxes paid to the government. This statement is available free of charge from the official income tax portal. Use this document to compute the total TDS deducted from your income.

7. Tax-saving investment proofs

These are receipts of investments eligible for tax deductions, such as ELSS, PPF, and life insurance premiums. By using these documents, you can claim deductions under Chapter VI-A of the Income Tax Act.

Along with them, you are advised to maintain all the invoices of your high-ticket purchases from online marketplaces or offline stores. Sometimes, the Income Tax Department calls them for verification purposes.

8. TDS certificates from banks and NBFCs

These certificates show the TDS on the interest earned from fixed deposits, recurring deposits, or savings accounts. Use them to confirm how much interest you earned during the financial year.

9. Annual Information Statement (AIS)

The AIS is an extensive report provided by the Income Tax Department. It is an extension of Form 26AS and provides the following information:

• TDS/ TCS details
• Interest income
• Dividend income
• Stock market transactions
• Mutual fund transactions, and more.

Use this document to cross-check all income and transactions recorded in AIS with your bank statements, Form 26AS, and personal records. Also, match the TDS entries with AIS. This ensures there are no discrepancies.

10. Rent agreement and rent receipts

These are proofs of rent paid during the financial year. A rent agreement is a formal contract between you and your landlord, while rent receipts confirm monthly payments. You can use these documents to claim an HRA exemption. Please note that you can claim it only if you are a salaried employee receiving HRA.

Conclusion

In the absence of Form 16, you can still correctly report your income and file an ITR using the right documents, such as bank statements, payslips, Form 26AS, AIS, loan certificates, investment proofs, and more.

Using these documents, you can easily compute your taxable income and TDS. This allows you to file your ITR accurately and fulfil your legal obligations, even without Form 16.