PAN card alert: Applying for Permanent Account number? You may not have to do this anymore

The Income Tax department today proposed to do away with the mandatory requirement of mentioning father's name while applying for a Permanent Account Number (PAN).

According to a draft notification, where the mother of a PAN applicant is a single parent, the individual would have to mention only the name of the mother.

At present, providing father's name in the PAN application Forms (Form No.49A and Form No.49AA) is mandatory, however, the applicant has been given an option to select the name of either father or mother, which the applicant may like to be printed on PAN card.

"In order to provide that father's name shall not be mandatory in PAN application forms, where the mother is the single parent, an amendment in PAN application forms is proposed to provide that ... Mentioning mother's name shall be mandatory in cases where father's name is not furnished and mother is the single parent," the CBDT said in a draft notification on which it has invited stakeholder comment by September 17.

The tax department is also proposing to empower Principal Director General or Director-General Income Tax to specify the manner in which PAN would be issued to an applicant.

Under the current norms, a PAN with 10 alphanumeric characters has to be issued in the form of a laminated card.

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The draft notification also proses a timeline for applying for PAN card by entities entering into financial transactions of Rs 2.50 lakh or more in a financial year.