Hiring & Verification
Salary Verification in India: How Employers Check Past Salary
How salary verification works in an Indian background check: the documents and records employers use to confirm past salary, why it rarely matches CTC, and what candidates can decline to share.
myutils.me7 min read
An employer in India can't look up your salary anywhere on its own. Your income tax records, PF account and bank statements are visible only to you. So every salary check comes down to one of two things: documents you hand over, or records you agree to share from your own account. A background-check agency calling your previous employer is the only route that doesn't go through you, and even that usually needs your signed authorisation.
This post covers the checks employers use, what each one can prove, and the requests you can reasonably refuse.
The usual checks, and what each shows
| Check | Who produces it | What it confirms | Its weak spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payslips | Your employer's payroll | Monthly gross, deductions and net pay | No standard format; easy to edit |
| Bank statement | Your bank | Net salary actually credited, month by month | Shows net pay only, and every other transaction you made |
| Form 16 | Your employer, with Part A generated through TRACES | Annual salary and tax deducted for one financial year | Part B is filled by the employer; an unsigned PDF can be altered |
| Form 26AS, AIS and TIS | The Income Tax Department, downloaded by you | Salary and TDS each employer reported against your PAN | Only what employers reported; a PDF download can still be edited |
| ITR acknowledgement (ITR-V) | The Income Tax portal, downloaded by you | That a return was filed, with total income declared | Shows the total, not salary by employer |
| Previous employer's HR, via an agency | Your former employer | Dates, designation, sometimes last drawn salary | Many employers confirm dates and designation only |
| UAN and PF passbook | EPFO, viewed by you | Where you worked and the months PF was paid | PF is often on capped wages, so it doesn't show full salary |
Most employers ask for two or three of these together, because each one covers another's gap. A payslip paired with the bank credit for the same month is the most common combination. Form 16 or AIS adds a figure that came from tax filings rather than from you.
Why your verified salary won't match your CTC
Cost to company (CTC) includes amounts that are never paid to you as salary in that year. Tax records show gross salary paid, so the two differ even when nothing is wrong.
A worked example, with illustrative figures, for a CTC of ₹18,00,000 and a basic salary of ₹7,20,000:
| Component | Amount | In Form 16 and AIS salary? |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary paid (basic, HRA, allowances) | ₹16,50,000 | Yes |
| Employer's PF contribution (12% of basic) | ₹86,400 | No, generally |
| Gratuity provision (4.81% of basic) | ₹34,632 | No |
| Group health insurance premium | ₹28,968 | No |
| CTC | ₹18,00,000 |
The candidate's AIS would show about ₹16,50,000 of salary from this employer, ₹1,50,000 below the CTC on the offer letter. Two other common gaps:
- Joining or leaving mid-year. Tax records cover the financial year (April to March). If you joined in October, they show six months of salary.
- Bonus timing. A performance bonus for one year paid in the next appears in the later year's figures.
If you are asked about a gap, explain it with the salary structure from your appointment letter. Our guide on why AIS salary may not match Form 16 covers the reporting side.
Which law applies to the tax documents
The Income-tax Act, 2025 applies from 1 April 2026, with the Income-tax Rules, 2026. The Form 16 you received in June 2026 is for FY 2025-26 (AY 2026-27) and was issued under the 1961 Act. Salary paid from April 2026 falls in Tax Year 2026-27 under the new Act, and its certificate carries a new form number. See what changes for Form 16. For a salary check in 2026, you will mostly be sharing FY 2025-26 and earlier documents.
What an employer can ask, and what you can decline
No Indian law entitles a prospective employer to your salary history. It is equally free to ask and to decline to hire if you won't share. In practice it is a negotiation, but a few requests are worth refusing whatever the stakes.
Decline: your Income Tax portal password or OTP
Your e-filing login opens everything: every return you filed, AIS for every year, your bank accounts for refunds, your address and phone number, and the ability to file or revise a return. No verification needs it. Download the specific document yourself, or use a consent-based share where you choose what goes. The same applies to net banking, EPFO (UAN) passwords and any OTP sent to your phone.
Decline or narrow: full bank statements
A salary check needs the salary credits. You can offer statements for the relevant months only, or for your salary account alone, and say why.
Ask why: data that has no link to the role
Family details, medical history or every year since you started work are hard to tie to a salary check. Ask what purpose the data serves.
What the DPDP Act adds from May 2027
The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 requires consent to be limited to the personal data "necessary for such specified purpose" (section 6(1)). The notice, consent and erasure duties for employers take effect when the DPDP Rules' main provisions start, around 13 May 2027. Whether employers can rely on "legitimate use" for candidates instead of consent is unsettled. Our DPDP timeline for HR teams explains the dates.
Sharing from your own tax records, with consent
The most reliable figures are the ones the Income Tax Department compiles from what your employers reported. You can download Form 26AS (e-File > Income Tax Returns > View Form 26AS) and AIS (AIS from the portal's top menu) and send them. A downloaded PDF is still something you hand over, though, and an employer has no easy way to tell if it was edited. Our comparison of which income proof is hardest to fake goes through each one.
With Greenflag by myutils.me, the employer sends a request and you sign in with the invited email. You sync your own PAN, preview the figures and choose what to share. The employer then gets a read-only copy of your own AIS, TIS and ITR figures for the categories you shared, and never sees your portal password. The employer guide shows each step for both sides.
FAQ
Can my new employer see my salary on the Income Tax portal?
No. AIS, TIS, Form 26AS and your filed returns are visible only after logging in to your own account. An employer sees them only if you share them.
Can my previous employer tell a new one my salary?
Background-check agencies usually ask you to sign an authorisation that lets your previous employer answer. Policies differ: many confirm only your dates and designation, and some confirm last drawn salary.
Does my UAN show my salary?
Not directly. The PF passbook shows contributions, and PF is often calculated on wages up to a ceiling, so it doesn't reveal full salary. It does show which establishments paid PF for you and for which months.
Why does my Form 16 show less than my CTC?
Form 16 shows salary paid in the financial year. Employer PF, gratuity and insurance in your CTC are usually not salary paid to you, and mid-year joining or delayed bonuses shift amounts between years.
Should I share my Income Tax portal password for verification?
No. The password gives full access to your tax account, including filing returns and changing refund bank accounts. Share specific documents or use a consent-based share instead.
Sources
Topics
- Salary Verification
- Form 16
- AIS
- Background Check
- CTC
- Form 26AS
- TIS
myutils.me
Written by the team behind myutils.me, a free, independent app that brings ITR status, refunds and AIS/TIS for each PAN into one dashboard. Check anything important against the Income Tax portal before you act on it.
