Form 16 / 16A Password Format (TRACES, 2026)

Form 16/16A files downloaded from TRACES open with the deductor's TAN in capital letters; employer-emailed Form 16 passwords are set by each employer.

A Form 16 or Form 16A downloaded from TRACES opens with the deductor's TAN in capital letters, for example MUMR12345D. If your employer emailed you a Form 16 PDF, the password is whatever your employer chose, so check that email first.

As of October 2026, TRACES states the TAN rule in its Form 16 download FAQ: "The password for opening Form 16 / 16A will be your TAN in capital letters."

The password format

Form 16 (salary TDS certificate) and Form 16A (TDS on other payments) are generated on TRACES. Only the deductor, meaning your employer or the payer, can download them. TRACES says plainly that "through a taxpayer login, Form 16 cannot be downloaded". The deductor downloads the file and converts it to PDF with the TRACES PDF Generation Utility.

For that TRACES file, the password is the TAN (the 10-character Tax Deduction Account Number of the employer or payer) in capital letters. The TAN is printed on Form 16 and on your salary slips at some companies.

Employer-emailed Form 16: passwords vary

Most employees never touch TRACES. Your employer or its payroll provider sends you a Form 16 PDF by email or through an HR portal. Many employers add their own password before sending, and there is no single official format for this. Common choices include your PAN, your date of birth, or a mix of both, but each employer decides. The password, or a hint, is almost always in the email the Form 16 came with or in the HR portal's help text. If it is not, ask your HR or payroll team. Do not assume the TRACES TAN rule applies to a file your employer emailed.

Worked examples

File	Details (made-up)	Password
Form 16 / 16A from TRACES	Employer TAN MUMR12345D	MUMR12345D
Form 16B (property purchase TDS)	Buyer Ravi Kumar, born 15 May 1990	15051990
Form 16 emailed by employer	Varies	Check the email or ask HR

Form 16B, 16C, 16D and 16E

These are different certificates that the buyer, tenant or payer downloads from TRACES (TDS on property purchase, rent, certain payments, and virtual digital assets). The TRACES password tutorial says they open with the date of birth of the buyer/tenant/payer as per PAN, in DDMMYYYY format. The Form 16B FAQ gives the example 04101976 for a buyer born on 4 October 1976.

If the password doesn't work

• TAN, not PAN. For TRACES Form 16/16A, it is the employer's TAN, not your PAN.
• Capital letters. Type the TAN in capitals: MUMR12345D, not mumr12345d.
• Which TAN? If you had two employers in the year, each Form 16 opens with that employer's TAN.
• Employer's own password. If TAN does not work on an emailed PDF, your employer has used its own password. Look at the email again or ask HR.
• Form 16B. Use the buyer's date of birth as per PAN, with leading zeros (07091988).

Removing the password so you don't have to type it again

Once the file is open, you can save a copy without the password so you are not typing it every time you need the document. On iPhone, iPad or Mac, UnKey does this offline: you enter the password once, it saves an unlocked copy, and nothing is uploaded anywhere. It only works when you already know the password; it does not guess or crack passwords. Other PDF tools, such as printing to a new PDF from your PDF viewer, can do the same job. Keep the unlocked copy somewhere private, because anyone who gets it can read it.

Questions

Sources

• TRACES – Form 16 download FAQs (deductor)
• TRACES – e-Tutorial: Password format for deductor and taxpayer
• TRACES – Form 16B download FAQs (taxpayer)

Formats can change. If a password doesn't work, check the email the document came with or contact the issuer. UnKey isn't affiliated with any bank, employer or authority named here.