PAN to be used as common identifier for digital systems

Category : Business and economics Published on: February 04 2023

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Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman while presenting Budget 2023 has proposed usage of Permanent Account Number (PAN) card as a common identifier for all digital systems at government agencies.
PAN is a Permanent Account Number issued by the Income Tax Department of India. It is a ten-digit alphanumeric number.
The initiative is being launched to increase the PAN user base and also to simplify access to systems working under government entities.
PAN is compulsory for the sale or purchase of vehicles, opening an account, cash payment and transactions of more than Rs 50,000, the purchase of securities, the sale or purchase of properties, and lots more.
By making PAN compulsory, the tax norms are being made stricter.
The move is expected to simplify the KYC process and make it easier for the Income Tax Department and other government agencies to manage documents of PAN cardholders.
The Finance Minister has said that the KYC (Know Your Customer) process will be simplified by adopting risk-based criteria.
This will be used as the basic identity proof of Aadhaar. Arrangements will be made for this under DigiLocker. The Finance Minister further said that PAN will be accepted as a personal identity card for business establishments that are required to have PAN.