How to file Income Tax Return 2025 without Form 16, know alternative solutions and easy ways here.

The process of filing income tax returns has started. Many times, this process may seem complicated due to taxpayers not getting Form 16 on time. Form 16 is an important document given by the employer to the employees, which contains other important information like salary, tax, which is necessary in filing ITR. But the question is, can Income Tax Return 2025 be filed without Form 16? So the answer is yes, even if you do not have Form 16, you can file your ITR 2025. Know what documents you will need for this and what you have to do.

What is Form 16 and why is it important for taxpayers?

Before how to file Income Tax Return 2025 without Form 16, let us know what Form 16 is. It is a TDS certificate given by the employer to the employees. Which is given after the end of the financial year. Which contains the salary of the employees, the amount of TDS, information about exemptions and deductions, PAN and other tax related information.

If you are a freelancer or a self-employed person, or work in a company that does not issue Form 16, then in such a situation you can file ITR even without Form 16

Alternative way to file ITR without Form 16

1. Use Form 26AS

Taxpayers who do not have Form 16 can also file ITR through Form 26AS. This form can be downloaded from the Income Tax Department website. It contains information about TDS, advance tax or self-assessment tax deducted by the employer and his bank or other sources or income received from other income sources.

2. Bank statement and salary slip

Taxpayers can also file ITR through their bank statement and salary slip. Through these two documents, you will get information about your total income, deductions and other financial transactions during the financial year. On the basis of which you can file ITR.

3. Certificate of investments and deductions

Collect the documents of investments and other deductions made by you during the financial year. These documents will be necessary for you to claim exemption in ITR.

4. Annual Information System (AIS)

Annual Information System also contains details of all your financial activities. Such as income from salary, income from interest, stock market transactions, information about TDS and TCS. You can download it from the Income Tax Portal.

Cross-check Form 26AS and AIS. This ensures that your income and TDS information is correct.

5. This is also a solution for freelancers

If you fall into the category of freelancers or self-employed persons, then you will not need Form 16. Instead, you have to collect receipts of payments received from the client i.e. invoices. Income has to be calculated from the bank statement. Apart from this, a record of all types of professional charges like office rent, internet bill etc. has to be kept, which will be used for deduction.

Now you must have understood that it is not difficult to file Income Tax Return 2025 even without Form 16. You just need to have alternative documents so that you can file ITR comfortably.