Having two PAN cards for same individual? Know the penalty and how to surrender
A permanent account number (PAN) is a ten-character alphanumeric identifier, issued by the Indian Income Tax Department, to any “person” who applies for it or to whom the department allots the number without an application. Section 139A of the Act, along with Rule 114 in the Income Tax Rules, mandates the possession of the Permanent Account Number for Indians above the age of 18.
It is an important tool that helps the Income Tax Department monitor all the financial transactions of a person and trace any income leaks from the ITR filed by them. Hence, it can effectively help reduce tax evasion. Quoting of the Permanent Account Number (PAN) has become mandatory in almost all big situations such as:
- Opening a new bank account
- Buying and selling property
- Getting a New phone connection
- Buying or selling vehicle
- Investments
- Travelling
- Staying at a hotel
- Payment towards a dealer or an entity
- Opening account with share broker
- Applying for loans
- Applying for a credit or debit card
Can a person more than one PAN?
A person cannot hold more than one PAN. PAN is supposed to be a unique number and no two individuals or entities can hold the same PAN number. The income tax rules also do not allow the same individual to hold two or more different numbers.
In what situations would a person hold more than one PAN?
It might happen that individuals unintentionally have possessed two PAN cards without being in his/her knowledge. Here are some of the situations in which a person cannot have more than one PAN card:
- Many of the individuals may have applied for the PAN through online method and have submitted the application form but due to some technical issues it might get rejected by online database.
- In this case, person may go for offline mode again and start filling up the form and get it submitted to the concerned authority.
- If the concerned authority receives the latter application form and the former one and issues 2 different PAN’s to the same individual, it will be counted under multiple applications.
- There are situations of multiple PAN’s arising due to change in PAN details.
- For instance, it is observed that after marriage, women tend to change their surname and ultimately apply for new PAN. It results in having more than one PAN.
- Any of the individual intentionally applies for duplicate PAN card for the purpose of tax evasion, defrauding the tax agencies or government comes under this category. Misusing PAN for personal benefits may result in penalty and other consequences.
Penalty for holding more than one PAN?
In case one is using different PANs for different purposes like one for the demat account and another for filing my Income-tax return and payment of taxes, then only one of them should be retained, preferably the one used for Income-tax purpose and the other number should be surrendered immediately.
Having more than one PAN card in the name of same person or entity can bring PAN penalty to the holder. A penalty of Rs. 10,000 is liable to be imposed under section 272B of the Income Tax Act, 1961 for having more than one PAN. If a person has been allotted more than one PAN then he should immediately surrender the additional PAN cards.
How to surrender multiple PAN cards?
If the PAN number in both the cards is different, then you will have to surrender one of the PAN Number as soon as possible. There are two ways through which any individual can surrender their additional PAN cards:
Online Surrender:
- For individuals who want to surrender their additional PAN through online mode need to visit the official website of Income Tax Department of India at (http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/Pages/default.aspx).
- Login to your account and enter all the compulsory details required such as Name, Contact number, DOB, Father’s name and address.
- Further, individual have to mention the PAN which is to be surrendered and which has to be retained in the application form. After submission individual will receive an acknowledgment which can be used for proof of surrendering the additional PAN.
Manual/Offline Surrender:
- Individuals who want to surrender PAN card through offline mode need to fill the PAN correction form and submit it to the assessment officer under whose jurisdiction the individual falls.
- In PAN correction form under column 11, individual need to mention the PAN which is to be surrendered and which has to be retained. A copy of such PAN needs to be submitted along with the application form.
- After that acknowledgment slip has to be retained for future references which will act as a proof of surrender of PAN.
It is highly recommended to individuals or non-individuals not to carry an additional PAN as it can attract several consequences and penalty against it under Income Tax Act. In order to avoid this penalty, follow the guidelines of Income Tax Act and execute accordingly. Minimizing this activity will help in carrying out best financial transaction and ultimately development to the nation.
