Checking Form 16 Part B Against Your Twelve Payslips

Which year and which law

The Form 16 you receive in mid-2026 covers FY 2025-26 (1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026). That year is taxed under the Income-tax Act, 1961. The new-regime slabs, the ₹75,000 standard deduction and the ₹12,00,000 rebate threshold for that year are listed on the department's AY 2026-27 page. From tax year 2026-27, salary falls under the Income-tax Act, 2025. The corresponding certificate under the 2026 Rules may carry a different form number, which we have not verified. The reconciliation method in this article does not change.

The twelve hypothetical payslips

The October step is a hike. The March TDS is higher because the bonus arrived and payroll trued up the year's tax in the last month.

Four checks on Part B

1. Gross salary. Part B should show ₹14,40,000 as gross salary. If it is higher, look for a perquisite or reimbursement that was taxed but not shown as a payslip earning. If it is lower, look for a month missing, often the joining month or a bonus paid through a separate run.

2. Exempt allowances and deductions. Under the new regime, there are no HRA exemption, no professional tax deduction and no section 80C claims. The only salary deduction here is the ₹75,000 standard deduction. If Part B shows HRA exempt while also saying the new regime applies, one of the two is wrong.

3. Tax recomputed from Part B's figures. Total income is ₹14,40,000 − ₹75,000 = ₹13,65,000. Tax is ₹60,000 on the first ₹12,00,000 plus 15% of ₹1,65,000 (₹24,750). That is ₹84,750, plus 4% cess of ₹3,390, giving ₹88,140. You can confirm it on the department's income-tax calculator.

4. TDS deposited. Part B's TDS total should equal the twelve payslip deductions. Compare the total with the TDS credit shown against your PAN on the e-filing portal before you file.

Scripting the reconciliation

# Synthetic payslips for FY 2025-26; replace with your own.
payslips = ([{"gross": 110000, "tds": 6000}] * 6 +
            [{"gross": 120000, "tds": 8000}] * 5 +
            [{"gross": 180000, "tds": 12140}])

form16_part_b = {"gross": 1440000, "standard_deduction": 75000, "tds": 88140}

def fy2526_new_regime_tax(total_income):
    brackets = [(400000, 0), (800000, .05), (1200000, .10), (1600000, .15),
                (2000000, .20), (2400000, .25), (float("inf"), .30)]
    tax, below = 0.0, 0
    for above, rate in brackets:
        if total_income > below:
            tax += (min(total_income, above) - below) * rate
        below = above
    if total_income <= 1200000:
        return 0.0
    return round(min(tax, total_income - 1200000) * 1.04, 2)

def reconcile(slips, part_b):
    checks = {
        "gross": (sum(s["gross"] for s in slips), part_b["gross"]),
        "tds": (sum(s["tds"] for s in slips), part_b["tds"]),
        "tax_due": (fy2526_new_regime_tax(part_b["gross"] - part_b["standard_deduction"]),
                    part_b["tds"]),
    }
    return {k: (a, b, "OK" if abs(a - b) < 1 else f"differs by {a - b:,.0f}")
            for k, (a, b) in checks.items()}

for key, row in reconcile(payslips, form16_part_b).items():
    print(key, row)

All three lines print OK for these figures. Now try form16_part_b["tds"] = 86000. Suppose the March deduction was short. The TDS check now shows a ₹2,140 gap, and the tax-due check shows the same shortfall. If you file with those figures, the return will show ₹2,140 still payable.

When the numbers do not agree

• Your payslips are right and Part B is wrong. Ask payroll for a revised certificate. The return should reflect the correct salary, and the TDS credit you can claim is what was actually deposited against your PAN.
• Part B is right and a payslip is wrong. Usually the gap is a mid-year correction that payroll reversed later. Note it and move on.
• You had two employers in the year. Each Form 16 is correct for its own employer, but neither may have deducted enough for your combined income. Switching jobs mid-year covers that shortfall.

What to keep once it balances

Save the twelve payslips, the certificate and your reconciliation output in one folder named for the year. Next year you will need them again. A later employer may ask for earlier salary if you switch in the middle of a year. The department may also query a mismatch long after you have filed. And a revised certificate needs comparing against the version you relied on. A one-page note recording which checks passed, and why any figure differed, will save a morning of searching later.

For how each payslip line relates to the offer letter, see payslip anatomy. Reconciling two sources of the same totals is a core skill on our Data Analyst programme, which runs for 3–4 months.