Permanent Account Number is a unique ten digit alphanumeric number issued by the Income Tax Authorities of India under the supervision of Central Board of Direct Taxes or CBDT. It is assigned to an individual or a corporate firm to track the financial transactions carried out by them, so as to avoid tax evasion. It is mainly used for filing income tax return; however, there is multitude of circumstances when you need toapply for PAN card in India if you don’t have one. Here are some of the common uses of a PAN in India:
Filing returns
Permanent account number is issued by income tax department to individuals and corporate units forassisting them in filing income tax returns, which is also the foremost purpose of a PAN. Most of the employers in India ask new employees to provide PAN number for taxation purposes. It is used for deducting taxes from salary as applicable under Income tax law in India.
Identity document for utility services
It is used and accepted as legitimate identity proof in most of the cases such as applying for phone connection, gas and electricity connection and other such utility services. It is also accepted in India as identity proof for applying for ration card and Aadhar card in India.
Opening a bank account
PAN card is required for opening a bank account in India. Banks need to keep check on high cash transactions by individuals or organisations and report it to the RBI as per RBI norms.
Foreign exchange
It is also required for the purpose of foreign exchange by foreign travellers in India. They need to show their copy of PAN for foreign currency exchange.
Investment in fixed deposits and shares
You also need to apply for pan card in India to quote PAN card number when you invest in fixed deposits of worth Rs.50, 000 or more for deducting TDS on interest earned on fixed deposits. Similarly, it is required to be quoted for investment in shares and mutual funds and post office savings in excess of Rs.50, 000 each.
Miscellaneous
PAN is mandatory to be shown for applying for loans and credit cards in India. It is also required for sale or purchase of motor vehicles, excluding two wheelers and sale or purchase of immovable properties valued at Re. 5 lakhs and above.
In order to apply for PAN card in India, you need to submit all of your details in form no. 49A to any of the PAN facilitation centers, locatedin all cities and major towns across India. The UTI Investors Services Ltd (UTIISL) and National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) are the authorised agencies for issuing PAN cards in India. However, there are also many agents and companies nowadays engaged in providing PAN card services to make the process easy, fast and hassle free. You can easily apply for pan card online India through these agencies and get your pan card delivered to your door within shortest span of time.