PAN cards which have been a long standing identification card is an alphanumeric number having 10 digits is issued by the Income Tax Department and is a pivotal ID proof when applying for a slew of various financial products including opening of bank accounts. This card is linked to numerous transactions such as payments towards tax, filing one’s tax returns, to TDS certificates and many more.
The card can be applied for by anyone over the age of 18 years and is used to link all tax related documents to bring about ease of retrieval of information, tax payment histories, to get information related to any investments made by the cardholder and even to check credit worthiness of an applicant when they apply for loans. The main idea behind the PAN card is to have a single point of data collection to detect and rectify cases of tax evasions thereby increasing the baseline of taxpayers. A PAN card can be applied through a simple process described below.
Application for PAN card: For first time applicants, a PAN card application form for Indian citizens can be found online. This form is titled FORM 49A and can be found on the NSDL website. The forms are also available through NSDL facilitation centres or centres that offer PAN creation services and are managed by the NSDL. All applicants will have to fill out this form. The PAN card does not provide any form of Tatkal facility to acquire the PANcard instantly. The forms need to be filled out and submitted at the centres along with the required supporting documents. For applications made online, acknowledgement receipts and supporting documents can be mailed to the Income Tax PAN services Unit located in Pune.
Supporting documents required: Now that the application forms have been filled out, they need to be submitted along with the required supporting documents. These supporting documents comprise of key details such as one coloured passport photograph of the applicant to go on Form 49A, valid proof of identity and address of the applicant and designation and code of the concerned assessing officer of the I-T department. The designation and code should be entered into the Form 49A.
Address proof will have to be in the form of a utility bill such as an electricity bill or telephone bill or a credit card statement or bank statement of the applicant. Drivers’ licenses and voter Ids can also qualify as valid address and identity proof.
In case the applicant has none of the above documents or does not own a property then they can provide a copy of the rental agreement and rent receipt signed by the MP, MLA or a gazetted officer representing the concerned locality.
If the applicant is a minor, then his/her parents or guardians can submit their address and identity proof documents listed above.
Fees for PAN card application: The fee for application of PAN card for Indian citizens residing in India is Rs.107 whereas Indian citizens currently residing outside India will have to pay an application fee of Rs.994. both charges depicted are inclusive of tax and dispatch fees.
Clauses: Only one PAN card can be held by an applicant at any time. Holding multiple copies of a PAN card is strictly against the law and those found to have more than one copy will face legal action as well as hefty fines of up to Rs.10,000. Holders with multiple PAN cards can voluntarily give up their additional cards and avoid any legal action. Application for request to change in PAN mentioning the one an applicant wants to retain and the one they want to surrender can be done on the Income Tax Department’s website.
