New PAN Card Rules Come into Effect Today: All You Need To Know
Entities that made transactions worth Rs 2.5 lakh or more in a financial year need to apply for a PAN card.
The Income Tax Department, on 19 November, introduced changes to PAN card rules to avoid tax evasion and ensure flexibility to PAN applicants. The new rules effective Wednesday, 5 December, are as follows:
Quoting of father's name in PAN application forms will not be mandatory in cases where mother of the applicant is a single parent.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), through a notification, amended the Income Tax Rules, 1962 and said the application forms would give an option to the applicant to reveal whether the mother is a single parent and whether the applicant wishes to furnish the name of mother only.
Earlier, furnishing one’s father's name was mandatory for the allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN).
The CBDT has also made it mandatory for entities that have made financial transactions worth Rs 2.5 lakh or more in a financial year to apply for a PAN card. The application has to be filed on or before 31 May of the assessment year for which such income can be assessed.
Applicants Can Now Get PAN Card in 4 Hours
In a separate development, the tax department is planning to introduce the concept of pre-filled returns in the system to enable faster processing of returns, The Times of India reported, quoting a tax official on Tuesday, 4 November. The new allotment procedure (issuance of PAN in four hours) will most likely start within a year, the official said.
According to the report, the Central Board of Direct Taxes is moving towards automation and will rely heavily upon technology in areas such as pre-payment of taxes, filing of returns, refunds, case selection and finalisation of cases for scrutiny among others, CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra, said.
The income tax returns form has also been simplified and the process has been made non-discretionary based on technology and e-assessment, Chandra said.
(With inputs from PTI and the Times of India)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)