The Permanent Account Number (PAN) is a must for most of the financial transaction. The government has issued new guidelines in order to curb circulation of black money and widening of tax base, for which quoting PAN is necessary.
Aiming to increase the cashless transaction and curbing the circulation of black money, Modi Government has taken various steps towards usage of PAN Cards including quoting PAN card number where the transaction exceeds a specified limit. A special investigation team (STT) created to reduces the circulation of black money suggested that quotation of PAN should be made necessary for any transaction exceeding Rs.1 lakh. The same suggestion was affirmed by the Finance Minister in the Budget Speech but considering the implications, the limit has been raised to Rs.2 lakh regardless the mode of payment. Further, monetary limits for various other transactions were also increased to reduce the burden of compliances such as the limit of Rs.5 lakh has been hiked to Rs.10 lakh in case of sale or purchase of any immovable property, limit of onetime payment of hotel or restaurant bills is raised to Rs.50,000 from Rs.25,000.
Thus, the government has also enhanced the monetary limits of certain transactions which require quoting of PAN. The changes to the Rules will take effect from 1st January, 2016 and the Income-tax Rules require quoting of Permanent Account Number (PAN) where the transactions exceed a specified limit. Persons who do not hold PAN are required to fill a form and furnish any one of the specified documents to establish their identity.
PAN Card Changes Effective from 1st January, 2016:
- Immovable Property Transactions: Any transaction of purchase or sell of immovable property exceeding value Rs.10 lakh or above requires mandatorily quoting of PAN. Further, if the stamp value authority values property exceeding Rs.10 lakh, quoting PAN is must irrespective of the transaction value.
- Purchase of Jewellery Bullion: Purchasing Jewllery or Bullion exceeding Rs.2 lakhs will now require quoting PAN. Earlier this limit was Rs.5 lakhs but to curb the use of black money, transaction limit has been reduced. However, it is yet to be cleared that whether the limit of Rs.2 lakh is applicable on onetime payment or a single day transaction or single bill transaction.
- Term/Time/Fixed Deposits: PAN is must for opening Time/Term/Fixed Deposits with Co-operative Banks, Post-Office, Nidhi, NBFCs. If aggregate amount of deposits exceeds Rs.5 lakh during a fiscal year than also PAN is to be quoted. But opening fixed deposit account with banks do not required PAN card, however, opening savings bank account will require PAN. Bank account includes account open with Co-operative banks also.
- Hotel/Restaurant Bills: A small relief is given to the travellers in terms of widening the monetary limit of quoting PAN. Earlier onetime payment of Rs.25,000 for settling Hotel or Restaurant Bills required PAN but now the limit of Rs.25,o00 is replaced with Rs.50,000.
- Cash Deposit/Bank Draft/Pay Order/Banker’s Cheque: Not much change is happened here. Earlier, if Cash Deposit/Bank Draft/Pay Order/Banker’s Cheque aggregating to Rs.50,000 in a single day, PAN was must to be quoted but now the word aggregating to is substituted by “exceeding to”. So now PAN is required only when Cash Deposit/Bank Draft/Pay Order/Banker’s Cheque exceeds Rs.50,000 in a single day.
- Foreign travel: In line with the relief in hotel or restaurant bills, cash payment in connection with foreign travel i.e. payment to travel agent, ticket booking or purchase of foreign currency of Rs.50,000 at any onetime requires PAN. Earlier this limit was Rs.25,000.
- Cash Cards/Prepaid Cards: Quoting PAN is also made necessary for a yearly payment exceeding Rs.50,000 through Cash Cards or Prepaid Cards.
Apart from above & trigger value of Rs 2 lakh, there are several other transactions where quoting of PAN is mandatory & the monetary limit has been revised. A chart highlighting the key changes to Rule 114B of the Income-tax Act is attached.
| Sl. | NATURE OF TRANSACTION | MANDATORY QUOTING OF PAN (RULE 114B) | |
| Existing requirement | New requirement | ||
| 1. | Immovable property | Sale/ purchase valued at Rs.5 lakh or more | i. Sale/ purchase exceeding Rs.10 lakh; ii. Properties valued by Stamp Valuation authority at amount exceeding Rs.10 lakh will also need PAN. |
| 2 | Motor vehicle (other than two wheeler) | All sales/purchases | No change |
| 3. | Time deposit | Time deposit exceeding Rs. 50,000/- with a banking company | i. Deposits with Co-op banks, Post Office, Nidhi, NBFC companies will also need PAN; ii. Deposits aggregating to more than Rs. 5 lakh during the year will also need PAN |
| 4. | Deposit with Post Office Savings Bank | Exceeding Rs. 50,000/- | Discontinued |
| 5. | Sale or purchase of securities | Contract for sale/purchase of a value exceeding Rs. 1 lakh | No change |
| 6. | Opening an account (other than time deposit) with a banking company. | All new accounts. | i. Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account excluded (no PAN requirement for opening these accounts); ii. Co-operative banks also to comply |
| 7. | Installation of telephone/ cellphone connections | All instances | Discontinued |
| 8. | Hotel/restaurant bill(s) | Exceeding Rs. 25,000/- at any one time (by any mode of payment) | Cash payment exceeding Rs. 50,000/-. |
| 9. | Cash purchase of bank drafts/ pay orders/ banker’s cheques | Amount aggregating to Rs. 50,000/- or more during any one day | Exceeding Rs. 50,000/- on any one day. |
| 10. | Cash deposit with banking company | Cash aggregating to Rs. 50,000/- or more during any one day | Cash deposit exceeding Rs. 50,000/- in a day. |
| 11. | Foreign travel | Cash payment in connection with foreign travel of an amount exceeding Rs. 25,000/- at any one time (including fare, payment to travel agent, purchase of forex) | Cash payment in connection with foreign travel or purchase of foreign currency of an amount exceeding Rs. 50,000/- at any one time (including fare, payment to travel agent) |
| 12. | Credit card | Application to banking company/ any other company/institution for credit card | No change. Co-operative banks also to comply. |
| 13. | Mutual fund units | Payment of Rs. 50,000/- or more for purchase | Payment exceeding Rs. 50,000/- for purchase. |
| 14. | Shares of company | Payment of Rs. 50,000/- or more to a company for acquiring its shares | i. Opening a demat account; ii. Purchase or sale of shares of an unlisted company for an amount exceeding Rs. 1 lakh per transaction. |
| 15. | Debentures/ bonds | Payment of Rs. 50,000/- or more to a company/ institution for acquiring its debentures/ bonds | Payment exceeding Rs. 50,000/-. |
| 16. | RBI bonds | Payment of Rs. 50,000/-or more to RBI for acquiring its bonds | Payment exceeding Rs. 50,000/-. |
| 17. | Life insurance premium | Payment of Rs. 50,000/- or more in a year as premium to an insurer | Payment exceeding Rs. 50,000/- in a year. |
| 18. | Purchase of jewellery/ bullion | Payment of Rs. 5 lakh or more at any one time or against a bill | Deleted and merged with next item in this table |
| 19. | Purchases or sales of goods or services | No requirement | Purchase/ sale of any goods or services exceeding Rs. 2 lakh per transaction. |
| 20. | Cash cards/ prepaid instruments issued under Payment & Settlement Act | No requirement | Cash payment aggregating to more than Rs. 50,000 in a year. |
Conclusion:
It’s important to note that almost every high value transaction, including spending money at restaurants, will need a PAN number. If you do not have a PAN number, you have to fill up the form for identification.
It’s important that you must apply for a PAN, even though you may not be in the taxable income bracket. The government is increasingly looking at curbing black money and a good way to start is to get people to quote their PAN numbers.
Thus, the Government in its move to curb the circulation of black money and widening its tax base decided that quoting of PAN is essential for any form of transaction exceeding Rs.2 lakh, regardless of the mode of payment. This will come to effect from 1st January, 2016. In other words, quoting PAN will help create a trail of all the high value transactions done by an individual. This can be used by the tax authorities to check if the customer has paid taxes in accordance.
The above changes in the rules are expected to be useful in widening the tax net by non-intrusive methods. They are also expected to help in curbing black money and move towards a cashless economy.