In a significant development, the Narendra Modi government has approved the new version of the PAN card. Hence, PAN cards in use since the year 1972 will be revamped and nearly 78 crore people in the country will have to update their Permanent Account Number (PAN) Card. The main objective behind this change, as per the government, is to have an approach that provides ease of access to the taxpayer. Taxpayers are now waiting if their PAN numbers are going to change after the approval and what is the procedure to get the new card?
The PAN card will be available with several new features, and the PAN number will remain the same. The information would be stored in a QR code in the card and it will be read by the station master, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. You will now be able to easily perform tasks such as registering a company, paying taxes, or opening a bank account.
What is a PAN Card?
Permanent Account Number (PAN) is a unique alphanumeric number, of ten digits, allotted to any person or entity by the Income Tax Department (ITD). This number assists the department in connecting all the related transactions such as tax payments, TDS/TCS credits, returns of income, specified transactions, correspondence, etc.
Currently, the PAN system is fragmented across three platforms, one is the e-filing portal, another is the UTIITSL portal, and the next one is the Protean e-Gov portal. The e-filing portal is the website for placing tax returns online. The UTIITSL portal is a web portal that caters to all services related to PAN cards i.e. application of PAN card, updating of PAN card details, linking PAN with Aadhaar, etc.
What is PAN 2.0?
It is an e-Governance project of ITD, to re-engineer the business processes of taxpayer registration services. The project aims to improve the quality of all PAN services using the latest technology. Of this new initiative, ITD is integrating all processes related to PAN allotment/updation and corrections. These services related to TAN have also been merged with this project. In addition, PAN authentication/validation to user agencies like financial institutions, banks, government agencies, one central government department, and state government departments through online PAN validation service will be offered.
All these three portals will be integrated into a single unified portal PAN 2.0. The government in a release on Tuesday said that this platform will be used to handle all matters about PAN and TAN (Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number) including application, update, correction, Aadhaar-PAN linking, re-issuance requests, and online PAN validation. With this, the tax department is working to make the platform simple and user-friendly.
Features of PAN 2.0
- The new PAN card will make things quite easy for income taxpayers.
- Specially designed features will be modified/added to enhance the identification and registration process for the business activities.
- For PAN-related services, an integrated digitized platform will be created by the authorities to bolster the user experience.
- Furthermore, new amendments are added related to security features to prohibit fraudulent activities.
How To Upgrade The Existing PAN Card
To upgrade the card, the user does not need to do anything. The new PAN card, if it exists, will be sent by the IT department to all the people across the country. There will be no charges or any fees to apply for this new PAN card.
Will the old PAN card still be valid?
The government has mentioned that the PAN number will not change during the procedure of upgradation, it will always remain the same. Users can do all the transactions until the new card arrives from the authorities.
