Centre asks banks to obtain PAN of a/cs, except savings

The government has asked banks across the country to obtain PAN numbers of all its customers by February 28, barring those holding savings bank accounts.

“Income tax rules have been amended to provide that banks  shall obtain and link PAN or Form No 60 (where PAN is not available) in all existing bank accounts (other than BSBDA) by February 28, if not already done,” the latest notification said. BSBDA is Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account.

The PAN of savings accounts will continue to be governed by the RBI instructions on Know Your Customer (KYC).

In India, there are four major types of accounts — savings, current, recurring and fixed deposit.

The Permanent Account Number (PAN) is a code that acts as an identification for tax assessees, especially those who pay income tax. It is a unique 10-character alpha-numeric identifier, issued to all tax payers identifiable under the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961.

The move is expected to help the government match transaction details of account holders with the tax return they file.

The government has also asked banks to report cash deposits in savings accounts seven months before demonetisation.

In the notifications, the finance ministry asked the banks and post offices to give details of cash deposits made during April 1 to November 9 last year for amounts up to Rs 2.5 lakh or more per person, in all accounts other than current accounts.

For current accounts, banks and post offices have to give details of cash deposits up to Rs 12.5 lakh from April 1 to November 9.

This will make tax authorities compare details of deposits in the bank accounts of suspect depositors pre and post demonetisation in a better way.

Banks and post offices have been asked to submit details of these transactions by January 15.

Earlier, the tax department had asked banks and post offices to report to it all deposits above Rs 2.5 lakh in savings accounts and more than Rs 12.50 lakh in current accounts made between November 10 and December 30, 2016.

Banks and post offices were also asked to report cash deposits exceeding Rs 50,000 in a single day.