New Delhi, December 26: The Income Tax (IT) department in 2018 announced several new rules for the Permanent Account Number (PAN) card by making an amendment to Income Tax Rules, 1962. The IT department made these alterations in PAN rules with an aim to avert tax evasion cases. The new rules came into effect from 5th December 2018. According to the notification issued by the Central Board Direct Taxes (CBDT), it is mandatory to apply for PAN card on or before May 31, 2018, for all entities with a turnover of doing business worth Rs 2.5 lakh or more in a financial year. It is mandatory only for those entities who have not been allotted any PAN card yet.

The PAN is a unique 10-digit alphanumeric identity allotted to every taxpayer by the income tax department. The amended rules also state that furnishing of father's name will not be mandatory for a person whose mother is a single parent. This means, if an individual applies for PAN on or after December 5, 2018, he/she will not be required to mandatorily quote father's name in the application. IT Department Makes Mentioning Father's Name Non-Mandatory For Applicants.

Take a look at the new PAN rules for 2018-19:

PAN mandatory for all entities doing transactions worth at least 2.5 lakh:

In a bid to prevent tax evasion, the IT Department has made the holding of PAN card mandatory for all entities doing transactions worth at least 2.5 lakh in a financial year. Apart from other taxpayers, the rule is applicable to individuals of small entities including managing director, director, partner, trustee, author, founder, CEOs or office-bearers

Non-individual entities to apply for PAN card by May 31

A person, who is the managing director, director, partner, trustee, author, founder, who does not have a permanent account number, on or before the 31st May, must immediately apply for a PAN Card following the financial year in which the person referred enters into the financial transaction.

The new rule says, in the case of a person, being a resident, other than an individual, which enters into a financial transaction of an amount aggregating to two lakh fifty thousand rupees or more in a financial year and which has not been allotted any permanent account number, on or before the 31st day of May immediately following such financial year.

All entities to obtain PAN:

All the entities will also now have to obtain PAN card even if the total sales, turnover or gross receipts are not likely to exceed Rs 5 lakh in a financial year. This process will help the income tax department to track all the financial transaction.

Father's name not mandatory for PAN application:

With the new rules in place, quoting father's name for the pan applications is no more mandatory in cases where the mother of the applicant is a single parent. Earlier, furnishing father's name was necessary to avail Permanent Account Number (PAN).

Get your PAN card in just four hours

Any individual who has applied for PAN, a unique 10-digit alphanumeric identity, will get it in four hours. According to a TOI report, the CBDT chairman, Sushil Chandra while addressing industry conference said that the allotment of PAN in four hours is expected to start within a year.

PAN is the tax identification number mandatory for filing income tax returns (ITR) and can be applied either online or offline. It must be noted that a PAN card is mandatory for any transaction above Rs 2 lakh. Apart from this, a PAN card is mandatory for a lot of other activities like the opening of a bank account and as identity proof. It must be noted that the application for the PAN card is to be made in Form 49A for Indian nationals and Form 49AA for foreign nationals.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 26, 2018 05:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).