PAN Card – What is PAN, Eligibility, How to Enrol & Download PAN
PAN is an electronic system through which, all tax related information for a person/company is recorded against a single PAN number. This acts as the primary key for storage of information and is shared across the country. Hence no two tax paying entities can have the same PAN.
PAN – Overview
Name Of Authority issuing PAN | Income Tax Department, Govt. of India |
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PAN Customer Care Number | 020 – 27218080 |
Inception of PAN Card | 1972 |
Validity Of PAN Card | Life Time |
Cost of PAN Card | Rs. 110 |
Number Of Enrolments | 25 crore (approximate) |
Eligibility for PAN
PAN Card is issued to individuals, companies, non-resident Indians or anyone who pays taxes in India.
Types of PAN
- Individual
- HUF-Hindu undivided family
- Company
- Firms/Partnerships
- Trusts
- Society
- Foreigners
Documents for PAN
PAN requires two types of documents. Proof of address (POA) and Proof of Identity (POI). Any two of the following documents should meet the criteria
Individual Applicant | POI/ POA- Aadhaar, Passport, Voter ID, Driving Licence |
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Hindu Undivided Family | An affidavit of the HUF issued by the head of HUF along with POI/POA details |
Company registered in India | Certificate of Registration issued by Registrar of Companies |
Firms/ Partnership (LLP) | Certificate of Registration issued by the Registrar of Firms/ Limited Liability Partnerships and Partnership Deed. |
Trust | Copy of Trust Deed or a copy of the Certificate of Registration Number issued by a Charity Commissioner. |
Society | Certificate of Registration Number from Registrar of Co-operative Society or Charity Commissioner |
Foreigners | PassportPIO/ OCI card issued by the Indian GovernmentBank statement of the residential countryCopy of NRE bank statement in India |
The Cost of PAN
The cost of PAN card is Rs. 110 or Rs. 1,020 (approximately) if PAN card is to be dispatched outside India.
How to Enrol for PAN
Whether Online or Offline, you can enrol for PAN in 3 simple steps
- Visiting the official PAN – NSDL/UTIITSL website
- Fill the form with your details.
- Submit the required documents.
- Pay the processing fee.
- PAN will be dispatched within 15 days.
How to Update/Edit PAN Details?
PAN can be updated by the following steps:
- Go to the NSDL website and select the update PAN section
- Selectoption “Correction” in existing PAN data
A copy of (POI/POA) supporting documents are required.
Do’s and Don’ts for Filling up PAN update Form
- The form must be filled using only capital letters
- Fill in all the fields for updating
- Mobile number is compulsory for any updates to take place
- Fill the form in English and the local language used at the time of enrolment
- Make sure the form is filled only with current and relevant details
- Names must not have salutations such as Mr / Mrs / Ms / Dr
- Make sure that the full and complete address is filled for the PAN to be dispatched to the address
- Enter name clearly with signature or thumbprints when self-attesting supporting documents
- Attach relevant documents that support the required update only
- Incorrect information and lack of support documents will cause the application to be rejected
Lost PAN card?
If you have lost your PAN card, not to worry. Apply for a duplicate PAN card online or offline. Login on to NSDL or UTIITSL website, Fill the form 49-A for Indian citizen or Form 49-AA in case of a foreigner and make the payment online for a duplicate copy of your PAN card. The PAN will be dispatched within 45 days.
How long is the PAN card valid?
The PAN is valid for lifetime.
Can PAN card be made online?
Yes. PAN can be made online through the following steps:
- Visiting the official PAN – NSDL/UTIITSL website
- Fill the form 49A or 49AA for (Indian/Foreigner) with your details.
- Submit the required documents.
- Pay the processing fee.
- PAN will be dispatched within 15 days.
Tracking PAN Applications and Transactions
The Income Tax Business Application (ITBA) has now enabled tracking facility for transactions made with PAN for calculation of tax purposes.
Structure of PAN Card
PAN card contains information such as an identity, age proof and also complies with the Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines.
PAN card details are as follows:
- Name of the cardholder – Individual/ Company
- Name of the father of the cardholder – Applicable for individual cardholders.
- Date of birth – the cardholder’s date of birth in case of an individual or date of registration is mentioned in case of company or firm.
- PAN Number – It is a 10 letter alpha-numeric number and each character represents distinct information of the cardholder.
- First three letters – are purely alphabetical in nature and contain three letter of the alphabet from A to Z.
- The fourth letter – this represents the category of the taxpayer. The various entities and their respective characters are as follows:
- A – Association of Persons
- B – Body of Individuals
- C – Company
- F – Firms
- G – Government
- H – Hindu Undivided Family
- L – Local Authority
- J – Artificial Judicial Person
- P – Individual
- T – Association of Persons for a Trust
- The fifth letter – the fifth letter is the first letter of the individual’s surname
- Remaining letters – remaining characters are random. The first 4 characters are numbers while the last one is an alphabet.
- Signature of the individual – PAN Card also acts as a proof of the individual’s signature required for financial transactions.
- Photograph of the individual – PAN acts as a photo identity proof of the individual. In case of companies and firms, no photograph is present on the card.
Why do you need PAN?
PAN is a unique identification number that enables each tax paying entity of India with the following:
- Proof of Identity
- Proof of Address
- Mandatory for Filing Taxes
- Registration of Business
- Financial transactions
- Eligibility to open and operate Bank Accounts
- Phone Connection
- Gas Connection
- Mutual Fund – PAN is beneficial to complete e-KYC for mutual fund investments.
The union budget 2019 has proposed for taxpayers to use Aadhaar instead of PAN for filing income tax returns on or after 1 September 2019. It has been proposed in the union budget 2019 that the Income-tax officer can themselves allot PAN to taxpayer filing return with Aadhaar.
TAN (Tax deduction and Collection Account Number)
TAN registration is required for all the assessees required to deduct TDS (Tax deducted at source) on transactions.
Form 49B is the application form which is to be filled for allotment of TAN (Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number)
How to Apply for TAN?
An application for TAN could be made by submitting form 49B at TIN* facilitation centers. Find your nearest TIN facilitation centre with biometric-based facility.
TAN is allotted to applicants by income tax department. TAN could be applied by making an online application or in person by visiting the income tax department.
Application for TAN can be made using form 49B.In case of in-person applications, there’s no need of furnishing any supporting documents to the Department. However, in case of an online application, an acknowledgement which is received after the application has been submitted in form 49B needs to be furnished to the department as a proof.
*TIN – Tax Information Network
Application Procedure (Online)
- An applicant for TAN needs to be filled in Form 49B online.
- In case there’s an error, it needs to be rectified and the form needs to be re-submitted.
- A confirmation screen with data filled which is provided by the applicant would be displayed.
- The applicant can edit or confirm the same.
Acknowledgement
1. Once the confirmation is provided by the applicant, an acknowledgement screen would be displayed.
This acknowledgement would consist of:
a. A unique acknowledgement number of 14-digits
b. Name and contact details of the applicant
c. Status of applicant
d. Details with respect to payment
f. Space for signature
2. Applicants should save and print this acknowledgement.
3. The applicant must sign in the space so provided
The signed acknowledgement along with DD (if any), shall be sent to NSDL (National Securities Depository Limited) at
NSDL – e-Governance Infrastructure Limited,
5th floor, Mantri Sterling,
Plot No. 341, Survey No. 997/8,
Model colony, Near Deep Bungalow chowk,
Pune – 411016.
Payment
The fee for processing the application for TAN application INR 65.00 ( 55.00 application charge + 18.00% Goods & Services Tax) and this is a non-refundable fee if your application is rejected. Demand draft/Cheque shall be drawn in favour of NSDL-TIN.
Once this form submitted, the department would verify details so submitted. If the application appears to be correct, NSDL would send TAN details to the applicant’s address as provided in the form 49B or they could also send an email with the TAN details if the application was made online.
Pointers for Filling Form 49B
Below are few points which one should bear in mind while applying for TAN in form 49B.
1. Form 49B should be filled in English only and in capital letters.
2. The details of the assessing officer are required to be furnished by collector or deductor of tax. This information could be accessed from Income Tax Office if the same isn’t available
3. Details with respect to the district, area, area code, etc. are required to be provided by tax deductor or collector. If such detail isn’t known, Income Tax Office would assist you to find out the same.
4. The form must be filled up entirely. Blanks or pending sections won’t be considered
5. Individuals responsible for filing and submitting tax must list down their designation mandatorily
6. The applicant’s address must be an Indian address