Two Form 16s in one year usually leave tax to pay, because each employer deducted TDS as if its salary were your only income. You can close the gap within the year by declaring the first job's salary to your new employer on Form 122, which replaced Form 12B from April 2026, or pay it as self-assessment tax, with interest, when you file. The gap is worked below at ₹18, ₹26 and ₹40 lakh.

Why do two Form 16s leave tax due?

After a job change, each employer works out tax on its own salary as if nothing else exists, so each gives you the ₹75,000 standard deduction and starts the slabs from zero on its share. Under the new regime, the default for FY 2026-27, the first ₹4 lakh of taxable income is tax-free, the next ₹4 lakh steps are taxed at 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% and 25%, and 30% applies above ₹24 lakh. The old regime has a ₹50,000 standard deduction and other slabs (old vs new tax regime), but the same gap appears.

The rebate widens it: taxable income up to ₹12 lakh carries no tax (section 87A of the 1961 Act, section 156 of the Income-tax Act, 2025), so a few months' salary from an old job can work out to nil tax.

How much tax is short on ₹26 lakh from two jobs?

Imran earned ₹8,00,000 from April to July 2026, then joined a new employer in August at ₹2,25,000 a month, or ₹18,00,000 to March.

Assume his old employer deducted nothing, as it would if it counted only the ₹8,00,000 he earned: less ₹75,000, that is ₹7,25,000, under the rebate line. Many payrolls deduct on a full year's estimate until you resign, so check your final payslip or the TDS lines in your AIS: whatever was deducted counts, and the gap shrinks by it.

His new employer's sum: ₹18,00,000 less ₹75,000 is ₹17,25,000. Tax is ₹20,000 + ₹40,000 + ₹60,000 on the first ₹16 lakh plus 20% of ₹1,25,000 (₹25,000), or ₹1,45,000; ₹1,50,800 with 4% cess, or ₹18,850 a month from August.

On the whole year, ₹26,00,000 less one ₹75,000 is ₹25,25,000: ₹3,00,000 on the slabs up to ₹24 lakh plus 30% of ₹1,25,000 (₹37,500), or ₹3,37,500; ₹3,51,000 with cess. He is short by ₹3,51,000 less ₹1,50,800, or ₹2,00,200. Neither surcharge nor marginal relief applies here.

If Imran gives Form 122 before the November payroll, his new employer recomputes the year's tax on ₹26 lakh. The tax left after August to October's ₹56,550 is ₹2,94,450, or ₹58,890 a month from November to March. Left until February, the last two months carry ₹1,18,950 each.

How big is the gap at other salaries?

With each employer taxing only its own salary:

Year's salary Old job New job Tax on the year TDS by both Gap
₹18 lakh ₹6 lakh ₹12 lakh ₹1,50,800 nil ₹1,50,800
₹26 lakh ₹8 lakh ₹18 lakh ₹3,51,000 ₹1,50,800 ₹2,00,200
₹40 lakh ₹12 lakh ₹28 lakh ₹7,87,800 ₹4,13,400 ₹3,74,400

At ₹18 lakh the whole year's tax is missed, because each part stays under the rebate line on its own.

How does Form 122 (was Form 12B) fix it?

From April 2026, Forms 12B and 12BAA are merged into Form 122 (section 192(2) of the 1961 Act, now section 392(4)(a) of the 2025 Act, and rule 204). You give the earlier employer's name, PAN and TAN, the salary it paid including taxable allowances and perquisites, and the tax it deducted. Use your final payslip or settlement statement: if that employer deducted tax, its Form 16, now Form 130, is due only by 15 June 2027.

It is optional, with no fixed deadline, though the tax department expects it by 31 March and many payrolls stop earlier; your new employer must then count the declared salary and spread the balance over the months left.

It also saves interest: TDS deducted in the year, even in March, counts before interest is worked out, so if it covers the year's tax, none arises. Paying it yourself as advance tax works too, but Imran's June and September instalments have passed, which costs ₹3,600 of interest even if he pays the rest on time, as advance tax for salaried explains.

What if you file with two Form 16s instead?

In the return you add both salaries, claim ₹75,000 once, and enter each employer's TDS against its TAN. Check both TDS lines in your AIS first, as Form 26AS vs AIS shows. The balance is paid as self-assessment tax before you file, with interest at 1% a month.

For Imran, filing by 31 July 2027 with nothing paid in the year, that is ₹10,105 for the four missed instalments (section 425 of the 2025 Act, section 234C of the 1961 Act) and ₹8,008 for April to July 2027 (section 424, section 234B), or ₹18,113 on top of the ₹2,00,200.

If your two certificates are for FY 2025-26 and you have not filed yet, the same new-regime sums apply, the declaration was still Form 12B, and the return is now a belated one, due by 31 December 2026 with a ₹5,000 late fee and interest. Reading a single certificate is covered in your first Form 16 explained.

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Frequently asked questions

Each employer deducts TDS under the regime you declared to it, so one may have used the old regime and the other the new. In a return filed by the due date you pick one regime for the whole year (a belated return stays on the new regime), and all the TDS counts against the tax under it; only the balance due changes.
You can if your employer still accepts it, but many close declarations between January and early March so March payroll can be finalised, and the cut-off varies by employer. If it has passed, the balance is not deducted and you pay it as self-assessment tax, with interest, when you file.
No. Each employer may have allowed ₹75,000 in its own TDS sum, but your return adds both salaries and allows ₹75,000 once under the new regime for FY 2026-27 (₹50,000 under the old regime). At the 30% slab, that second ₹75,000 alone is ₹23,400 of tax with cess.

This is general information for salaried individuals in India, not personalised financial advice.