Penalty of INR 10,000 or surrender multiple PAN cards. Choice is yours!
Dashmeet Kaur | Updated: Feb 26, 2020 | Category: News
Section 139A of Income Tax Act, 1961 mandates a person to possess only one Permanent Account Number or PAN. If any individual has two or more PAN cards, then Income Tax Officer shall levy a penalty of INR 10,000, as prescribed under Section 272B. Several reasons lead to the generation of multiple PAN Cards. However, it is illegal to hold two PAN Cards, so surrender the surplus copy with the Government.
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Possible reasons for having multiple PAN cards
Some reasons that lure people to attain more than one PAN are as follows:
- It frequently happens with the Non-Resident Indians who apply for another PAN card in their name once they revisit the country after many years.
- The PAN holders who got some errors in their first card may also apply for another PAN card without surrendering the previous one.
- Often, people have additional PAN cards to evade taxes.
- When people apply for PAN various times for not receiving the card within the stipulated time, in such a case, they end up having multiple cards.
Offline procedure to surrender multiple Permanent Account Card Cards
In the offline mode, you need to write a letter to Income Tax Assessing Officer under the concerned jurisdiction. Attach the details of PAN cards, the one which you wish to surrender and the other that you want to retain. Post the letter to the Income Tax office under your jurisdiction. Therefore, keep a copy of the Acknowledgement receipt which confirms that Income Tax Department has received your letter.
How to surrender Multiple Permanent Account Number Cards online?
The online procedure is way more simplistic than the offline process. The users just have to visit the official website of Income Tax Department [1] and click under the section of ‘Surrender Duplicate PAN.’ Therefore, file all the necessary details of duplicate (multiple) PAN cards that you want to surrender and the other PAN card which you wish to retain. After submitting the e-form, you will be directed to further process.
