As per the scenario, if you possess more than one Permanent Account Numbers (PANs), regardless of whether you acquired them intentionally or accidentally, you get caught in a actual dilemma. You may well be penalised and even may well be criminalised in some circumstances.
But do not panic. Here are the treatments to solving the aforesaid dilemma of obtaining 2 PAN numbers. But prior to that let’s recall the a variety of provisions of the Income Tax Act 1961.
Section 139 A
Section 139 A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 is concerned with the eligibility criteria to apply for the PAN, when an person really should quote it and so on. As per the aforesaid section, a particular person can possess only one PAN. As per the seventh provision of the aforesaid Section 139 A, “No person who has already been allotted a permanent account number under the new series shall apply, obtain or possess another permanent account number.”
Section 272 B
As per this section, the revenue tax officer can impose a penalty of Rs 10,000 on the concerned particular person if he possesses more than one PAN. On an in-depth examination of this section,
# The penalty imposed is discretionary — If a particular person is discovered to have 2 PAN cards, it depends on the revenue tax officer to make a decision regardless of whether to levy a fine or not. The criteria of selection creating is to know the actual intention of a particular person obtaining two PAN cards.
# This section additional says that the defaulter (who has 2 PANs) shall be provided the chance of getting heard. The cause getting, he may well have committed the fault unintentionally in a hurry or for avoiding hassles or for some other bring about which is unavoidable.
For Instance, an NRI comes to India and applies for a PAN. In a hurry to honour his commitments abroad, he once more moves out of the nation and when he revisits the revenue tax workplace right after 5 years, he reapplies for PAN.
Another instance is as follows — a particular person has been issued the PAN 10 years back. Now he has moved to a new address but his PAN card shows the old address. In such a case, the formalities for address modify may well be extremely complicated and to steer clear of hassles, he may well apply for a new PAN and shall have 2 PANs now. Here the intention of an person is not incorrect but he has committed fault to steer clear of an error.
However, there may well be circumstances exactly where an person has applied for a second PAN fraudulently. For instance, an person may well have applied for PAN intentionally for obtaining a loan when he has lost credibility. In such a case, he may well turn out to be the offender along with the imposition of a penalty of Rs 10,000.
How to apply for the surrender of a PAN Card when an person has 2 PAN Cards?
There is a prescribed process to submit one PAN card out of 2 PAN cards to the revenue tax division as talked about in the Income Tax Act 1961. However, in the era of Information and Communication Technology, there are 2 strategies to apply for surrender of Card — Online Method and Offline Method.
Online Method
The system of submitting a PAN card to the Income Tax Department is equivalent to the process that is followed in the correction and surrender of the PAN card.
Step 1: Visit the web page of NSDL b clicking the prior to-talked about URL
https://www.onlineservices.nsdl.com/paam/endUserRegisterContact.html
Step 2: Click the PAN correction alternative from the on the internet application and fill out private information. Submit the type.
Step 3: After submitting the type, you would be redirected to a new web page. And a new token quantity shall be designed and shown to the applicant prior to filling the type. The aforesaid token quantity shall also be sent on your e-mail id which you have entered in the very first step
Step 4: On prime of the web page click the alternative ‘Submit scanned images through e-Sign’.
Under this alternative mention that PAN quantity you want to retain (not the one you want to surrender).
Fill out the private information in the left aspect and click next. The Fields marked with * are compulsory to fill.
Note: Never choose the corresponding verify box on the left margin of the provided field. The cause getting, this alternative is for the “correction of details”
Step 5: On the bottom of the next web page, mention the further PANs accidentally allotted to you (enter the PAN quantity you want to surrender) and click on next.
After submission, you shall get a preview of your application type. Verify the information in the preview type, edit the type.
Step 6: Payment
The charge is Rs 110 for communication address inside India and Rs 1020 for payment outdoors India.
Mode of Payment: Payment can be made either by
# Demand Draft (in favour of “NSDL-PAN) payable at Mumbai. Don’t neglect to enter the name of the applicant and the acknowledgement quantity on the reverse of the demand draft.
# Credit or Debit Card
# Internet Banking
Step 7: Acknowledgement
After creating the payment, an acknowledgement that is downloadable shall be displayed on the screen. Take the print and send the acknowledgement to NSDL e-Gov.
The person applicant who desires to apply for surrender ought 2 photographs in the space that is furnished in acknowledgement and cross sign it in such a way that one portion of the signature is on the photo and one portion is on the acknowledgement receipt.
Note: If the particular person applying is not the person, the acknowledgement shall be signed by
- Karta in the case of HUF,
- Partner in case of Partnership Firm / LLP
- Director in case of Company,
- Trustee in case of Trust and
- Authorized signatory in remaining categories).
Step 8: Submission
Superscribe the envelope with ‘Application for PAN cancellation’ along with the acknowledgement quantity.
Step 9 (Last Step) Following things really should be submitted to the beneath talked about postal address
- The acknowledgement duly signed, affixed with photographs along demand draft, if any,
- Proof of current PAN,
- Proof of identity,
- Proof of address,
- Proof of date of birth
Has to be sent to the following address:
National Securities Depository Limited(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.
Offline Method
For surrender of the additional PAN card offline, you ought to present the PAN correction form at the nearest collection centre of NSDL and also file a letter with the concerned jurisdictional Assessing Officer while listing the duplicate PAN details and requesting for the cancellation of the same.
In some cases, the Assessing Officer might be requiring an affidavit that mentions the current PAN and states that an individual does not possess any PAN other than the present one that is in use and the PAN card that has been surrendered.
Column 11 of this form shall ask you to mention the PAN which you desire to surrender. A Xerox copy of the aforesaid PAN should also be submitted along with the application.
Precautions/Takeaways
1. While making an online application, the duly signed acknowledgement along with essential documents ought to reach the office of the NSDL within 15 days after submitting the online form in the said time.
2. It is worth mentioning that the PAN correction form is used as a multi-tasker, i.e. making corrections in PAN, reissuing of PAN without correction and surrendering additional PAN, so be careful while filling the form.
3. There’s a likelihood that Income Tax officials shall undertake investigation. So, be ready.
4. Just filling out the on the internet type does not assure that your further PAN shall be cancelled. You may well have to take a look at the concerned Assessing Officer for convincing him that your further PAN was accidentally acquired.
5. One really should be ready to face queries from revenue tax officials. Similarly, you may well have to convince assessing officials if it is essential.
(By Amit Gupta, MD, SAG Infotech)