The term PAN Card full form stands for Permanent Account Number Card. It is a ten character alpha-numerical identification card issued by the Income Tax Department in India to anyone who applies for it. The PAN is a unique identification card issued to all the judicial entities which are identifiable under the Income Tax Act of 1961. The PAN Card acts as an important documentary proof which can be used for identification purpose.
PAN was introduced to enhance the links between different documents like payment of taxes, evaluation, tax demands and arrears. PAN was implemented to promote simple access and matching of information related to investment. The two authorized organization NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited (NSDL e-gov) and UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited (UTIITSL) are the Income Tax Department for accepting the application for PAN. Any applicant who doesn't have PAN card, he/she must register through one of these agencies. PAN card was introduced in the year 1972 under section 139A of the Income Tax Act 1961. After that PAN card was made obligatory in the year 1976 to all the tax paying applicants.
The PAN system of identification is a computer-based system that assigns a unique identification number to every tax-paying Indian entity. Using this technique, all the tax-related information of a person will be recorded against a single PAN number which usually acts as a primary key for storing information. The stored information can be shared across the nation and hence two people can't have the same PAN.
The PAN Card can be issued to both Indian residents as well as to foreign nationals (read as investors) who hold a valid visa. One should note that the mere issue of PAN Card cannot be used as a proof for securing Indian Citizenship.
Quoting of PAN Card number is a must for filing the income tax returns yearly.
The card is issued to those who usually pay tax. Apart from individuals, it is issued to companies, partnership firms, Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), minors, students and so on.
The PAN is a number, whereas PAN Card is a physical card which will consist of the Permanent Account Number (PAN), Name of the Individual, Date of Birth, Father’s Name, Photograph, Digital Signature of the holder.
PAN Card is a lifetime document and it remains unaffected due to change in residential address. Know the process to get the Pan Card within 2 days.
The Income Tax Department in India will issue the PAN card with the help from authorized district-level PAN agencies like UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited and National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL).
Accordingly, there are various PAN centers and TIN-Facilitation Centers located across the length and breadth of the country providing easy accessibility for individuals to get their respective PAN cards.
The process of issuing of PAN works on PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model and this is done to maintain competent, austerity and efficacy of the PAN applications.
In India, PAN card is issued to everyone whoever pays tax be it individuals, companies, students, minors, Hindu Undivided Family, limited liability partnership, the association of person (s), trust, artificial juridical person, local authority, partnership firms, non-residents and so on.
At the time of applying for PAN card, some of the essential documents should be submitted along with the PAN card application form (Form 49A or Form 49AA) or the acknowledgment form (in case of online application). The list of required documents usually varies based on the applicant.
For Individual Applicants
Address Proof of the applicant (any one of the following)
Date of Birth Proof (any one of the following)
Documents for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF)
Documents for Companies which are registered in India
Documents for Firms and Limited Liability Partnerships formed or Registered in India
Documents for Trust formed or Registered in India
Documents for Association of Persons
Documents for individuals who are not Indian Citizens
Proof of Identity (any one of the following)
Proof of Address (any one of the following)
Applicants of PAN Card can track the status of their application through online mode. The PAN Card application status can be checked at NSDL or UTI web portals. Either of the websites can be used to know the PAN application status. One can use the name and date of birth to check the status of PAN Card. The PAN Card status will show whether the card has been issued or not or if it is currently in transit.
PAN Card is an important document for the taxpayers as it is mandatory for carrying out all the financial transactions as it is used to track the inflow and outflow of money. The PAN card comes in handy while paying income tax or while receiving tax refunds or at the time of receiving communication from the Income Tax Department.
The Union Budget of 2019 has proposed that individuals can file their tax returns using Aadhar card if they do not have PAN card amending the earlier rule wherein PAN was mandatory to file income tax.
PAN Card also acts as a proof of identity and one should quote it compulsorily, if the banking transaction amount is equal to or more than Rs 50,000.
PAN Card in Financial Transactions
One can download the PAN Card soft copy (e-PAN Card) or reprint PAN card by visiting the NSDL web site. One should know either their PAN and date of birth or acknowledgement number for PAN card download.
PAN Card Download using Acknowledgement number
PAN Card Download using PAN and Date of Birth
PAN Card Application Form is often referred to as Form No. 49A or Form No. 49AA and the same is used for the allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN).
The PAN cards are essential to carry out financial transactions and all the taxpayers must own a PAN Card. The Income Tax Department will identify the taxpayers using the PAN Card. Any earning individual in the country should have a PAN card for correspondence purpose, for carrying out specific financial transactions, returns of wealth, TDS/TCS credits, gift, tax payments, income, FBT and so on.
There are two PAN application forms namely Form 49A and Form 49AA
Form 49A: This form is used by resident Indian citizens who are located within or outside the country. It is used to apply for a new PAN and to correct the information which is previously submitted.
Form 49AA: This form is used by Non-Resident Indians. It can either be used by individuals or companies which are not incorporated in India.
There are four options for filling PAN Card form online and they are:
a) Physical form submission along with documents
b) e-KYC based
c) e-Sign option
d) Digital Signature-based
In this process, first, make online data entry, post this the applicant should take a print out of the form, attest photographs and sent the application along with supporting documents.
997/8, Model Colony, Near Deep Bungalow Chowk, Pune – 411016.
In this method, the applicant’s Aadhaar details will be taken for PAN card application and accordingly the PAN Card will be sent to the residential address which is mentioned in the Aadhaar Card. There is no need to send the PAN application along with documents to NSDL.
In this method, one has to upload the required documents and a scanned photo at the time of filling in the application form. Attested documents should be submitted physically to the NSDL.
As per this method, one has to upload documents and images and send the attested supporting documents to the NSDL.
First, download the PAN Correction Form and fill out all the details in the form and submit the same at the nearest NSDL collection centre along with the copies of valid documents. One has to file a letter with the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer. The fields in the form will be similar to the online form.
Note: The PAN Correction form is used for correcting the existing PAN card, re-issuance of PAN and for surrendering extra PAN card. So one should fill out the form carefully and tick the boxes correctly.
Post submission of the form, you will be receiving an acknowledgement slip which should be sent to the NSDL office and this letter should reach them within 15 days of filing the request.
The government of India has made it mandatory for PAN Card Aadhaar linking otherwise income tax return of an individual will not be processed. If any individual has to carry out a bank transaction which is above Rs 50,000, then one has to get the PAN Card aadhar linking done without fail.
The process of PAN Card – Aadhar linking is very simple and can be done through various ways.
Procedure for PAN Card Aadhaar linking via SMS
Follow the below mentioned steps to link your Aadhar with PAN:
For Example: If your Aadhaar number is 458796145325 and PAN is PQRST5486J, type UIDPAN 458796145325 PQRST5486J and send it to 56161 or 567678.
Procedure for PAN Card Aadhaar linking via online
Individuals can link their Permanent Account Number with Aadhar card by following the simple procedure as mentioned below:
Note: For visually challenged individual users, you can raise an OTP request instead of captcha code. The OTP will be sent to the registered mobile number in aadhar card.
In case of misplacement or losing the original PAN Card, one can always apply for a duplicate one either through online or offline mode. UTIITSL and TIN-NSDL will help the people to fill the form and make payments online for securing PAN Card Duplicate. Know the procedure to get a duplicate PAN Card
The individual has to log into the official site of NSDL and mention your all personal details on PAN change request application form. Submit the form along with the copy of your additional PAN card. After submitting you will be redirected to a new page where a token will be generated for reference purpose. For cancellation of additional PAN, all the mandatory field must be filled by the applicant. After the token is generated you will be redirected to a new page where you are required to fill the details of your additional PAN card. Mention all the mandatory details of your additional PAN card click on next to proceed further. On the next page select proof of identity and upload the scanned photographs, signature and documents you have selected and click on submit.
Now you will be able to see the preview of your submitted details. Now the payment procedure is done through demand draft, credit or debit card or net banking. The processing fee of Indian applicant is Rs 110 and Rs 1020 for the applicant staying outside of India. After making payment an acknowledgement will be displayed which the applicant has to save for future use and take a print out of the acknowledgement.
Now applicant has to fix two recent passport size photographs with signature on the acknowledgement receipt. Take an envelope and mention Application for additional PAN cancellation at the top of the envelope along with your personal and residential address. Now send the envelope to the given address, NSDL e-Gov at Income Tax PAN services unit, NSDL e-governance infrastructure limited, 5th floor, Mantri Sterling, Plot no.341, survey no. 997/8, Model colony near Deep Bungalow Chowk, Pune-411 016.
The applicant can also surrender their duplicate PAN cards through offline process just by filling the form 49A available in NSDL. Fill all the mandatory details of your additional PAN card along with your personal details. Attach a copy of PAN card which you are willing to cancel and submit the form in the nearest UTI or NSDL TIN centres. At the time of submitting the form file a letter to the Assessing officer identifying the additional PAN information and requesting for the cancellation.
The PAN card issued by the Income Tax Department contains a list of basic information of the holder. The details included in the PAN Card are
Name of the Cardholder
The PAN card contains the name of the holder. Here individual’s name will be mentioned if the card is held by an individual if the card is held by a company, then the registered name of the company will be mentioned and in case of a partnership firm, then the name of the firm will be mentioned on the PAN card.
Father’s Name of the Cardholder
The father’s name of the individual cardholder will be mentioned on the card and it will be present beneath the name of the individual.
Date of Birth
The date of birth of the individual cardholder will be mentioned below the name of the father.
This details will act as proof of birth for the cardholder. In the case of companies and partnership firms, the date of registration will be mentioned in this field.
PAN Number
Followed by date of birth, the PAN number will be mentioned. The PAN number will be unique to every individual or entity or organization as it contains some key information. The 10 digits alphanumeric number will be generated based on the details provided by the entity. Each of the character present in the PAN number will represent certain information.
First Three Letters – The first three letters are purely alpha-numerical and contain three letters of the alphabets.
Fourth letter – The fourth letter of the PAN number represents the category of the taxpayer the entity or individual is. The various entities and their respective characters are listed below:
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
Fifth Letter – The fifth letter is the first letter of the individual’s surname
Remaining Letters – The remaining characters are picked up randomly. The first 4 characters are numbers whereas the last one is an alphabet.
Photograph of the Individual – The photograph of the individual in the white background will also be present on the PAN card towards the lower right-hand side which makes the card eligible to be used for photo identification proof. In the case of firms and companies, no photographs will be present on the card.
Signature of the individual – The signature of the individual will also be present on the PAN card and thus the card acts as a proof of individual’s signature which is required for carrying out several financial transactions.
If the income falls within the tax bracket for an individual then not having a PAN card will result in
The PAN card or the Permanent Account Number is issued by the Income Tax Department along with the district-level PAN agencies which are authorized. UTI ITSL (UTI Infrastructure Technology And Services Limited) and NSDL (National Securities Depository Limited). There are various TIN – Facilitation Centres and PAN centres across the length and breadth of the country which are managed by NSDL which help individuals to get their respective PAN Card.
The process of issuing PAN card mainly relies on the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model. The main aim of this is to maintain economy, effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness of managing, processing and issuing of PAN applications.
Improved Quick Response (QR) code is now being displayed in the PAN Card. The newborn design of the PAN Card is specified below.
The applicant has to search PAN QR Code Reader that has been developed under NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited. PAN QR Code Reader is used to interpret enhanced QR Code.
Proof of Identity
Driving License
Aadhar Card
Voter ID Card
Ration Card
Passport
Proof of Date of Birth
Mark-sheet or certificate of the recognized board.
Birth certificate issued by the municipal department.
Resident Proof
Bank account statement of last 3 months.
Passport
Utility Bills
Proprerty Registration document.