Changed jobs this year? Form 122 explained.

A job change within a tax year can create a simple payroll problem: your new employer may not know the salary earned and tax already deducted by your previous employer. Form 122 is designed to bridge that gap.

Under the Income-tax Rules, 2026, Form 122 combines the earlier Forms 12B and 12BAA. It is furnished by an employee to the current employer so payroll can compute salary TDS using the full picture for the tax year.

What Form 122 does

Form 122 lets the current employer consider salary income from another employer, together with the tax already deducted there. This helps the current employer calculate TDS for the remaining months more accurately.

It can also capture a loss under the head “Income from House Property”, other positive income from non-salary heads, and tax deducted or collected during the year. It is therefore more than just a prior-employer salary statement.

What changed from the earlier forms?

The underlying objective has not changed: the employer needs reliable information to deduct the correct amount of tax from salary. The new format standardises employee details and refers to the new tax-year terminology and provisions under the Income-tax Act, 2025.

What information should you have ready?

Before completing the form, collect information from your earlier employment. The form includes three principal parts and an annexure for specified perquisites.

1. Your personal details. Name, address, PAN, residential status and tax year.
2. Earlier-employer details. Name, PAN and TAN of the earlier employer, along with the employment period.
3. Salary and TDS figures. Salary paid or due, taxable allowances, perquisites, relevant provident-fund accretion and tax deducted by the earlier employer.
4. Other information relevant to payroll TDS. House-property loss, other positive income and tax deducted or collected during the tax year.

In practice, keep payslips, a salary/TDS certificate or final-settlement statement, Form 16 when available, and Form 26AS/AIS figures ready. If final Form 16 is not yet available, ask the previous employer’s payroll team for a provisional salary-and-TDS statement, then update the information if needed.

How to submit it to your current employer

Download the prescribed Form 122 from the Income Tax Department, complete it carefully, and submit it to the payroll or HR team of your current employer. Retain a copy and the supporting documents used to prepare it.

Submitting the form early matters. If payroll receives prior-employer information late in the year, the remaining TDS deductions may be higher because there are fewer salary months left to spread the tax.

Form 122 is not your income-tax return

Form 122 helps an employer calculate salary TDS. It does not replace filing an income-tax return where you are otherwise required to file one. At return-filing time, reconcile both employers’ salary and TDS information with Form 26AS, AIS and the Form 16s issued by each employer.

It is also sensible to check the current employer’s final Form 16 before filing. A prior-employer salary omission in payroll can usually still be dealt with in the return, but it may leave tax payable and potentially interest depending on the facts.

A short job-change checklist

1. Tell the current employer that you had another employer in the same tax year.
2. Collect prior salary and TDS details before the new employer’s payroll cut-off.
3. Complete and submit Form 122 with accurate PAN, TAN, salary and TDS figures.
4. Review your salary slips after submission to see that TDS reflects the combined information.
5. At year end, reconcile Form 26AS/AIS and both employers’ Form 16s before filing your return.

Information reviewed against Income Tax Department material available on 1 October 2026. This article is a general explainer; individual tax outcomes depend on the facts of each case.