Navigating Investment Proof Submission: What to Do When Your New Company Says It's Too Late

Hi,

I am Venkatesh, working for a software firm. I recently changed to another company. In the new company, they are not requiring investment proofs. They are stating that the last date has passed according to company policies. However, I do have investment proofs that I need to submit. Where can I submit these proofs? The old company's accounting personnel mentioned that I can submit them in the new company.

Could you please provide me with any suggestions and inform me of the deadline for submitting these proofs?

Thank you,
Venkatesh

There is no such last date for the submission of investment proof. Different companies fix different dates depending upon their convenience to process and deduct TDS for the rest of the year.

If your previous employer had deducted TDS, then they are supposed to issue Form 16 in respect of such deductions made from your salary. If they do not take the investment proof, how are they going to issue Form 16? Will they issue it without any proof that you have invested such an amount in Income Tax saving investments? Normally, for the first few months of the financial year, TDS shall be deducted on the basis of a declaration made by the employee about his proposed investments, and in December or January, the employee should give the proof of investments so that the HR or concerned department can calculate the exact Tax and adjust the tax deduction accordingly for the rest of the months, i.e., Jan, Feb, and March. If it is not done, there may arise a situation that the employee may not get a salary in March as the TDS already made might be less than what actually should be, and the employer will be compelled to deduct the balance of Tax in March.

At the time of an employee leaving the organization (say in December or January), the employer should collect the tax-saving investment proof to determine what exactly is the tax and to deduct any more tax than what has already been deducted from the concerned employee. Only then can he issue Form 16.

For the new company, they have to take into account only the earnings of the employee after he joined that company, and if the said earnings or salary do not exceed the IT limit, he is not bound to deduct any tax also. As such, it will be the past employer to collect the investment proof since a major share of the source of taxable income was with the past employer. Therefore, please advise your past company to collect it or just ask them how they are going to issue Form 16 after having deducted tax and is it possible that even without proof of investments they can issue Form 16. If so, you can keep the documents with you and submit it when there is any IT scrutiny in the future.

Regards,

Madhu.T.K