Govt asks banks to obtain PAN from account holders

TIGHTENING THE noose around tax evaders, the government has asked banks to obtain permanent account number (PAN) or Form60 if PAN is not available, from all bank account holders by February 28, 2017.

"Income-tax Rules have been amended to provide that bank 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, 2017, if not already done," a notification by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stated Sunday.

The persons who are having bank accounts but have not submitted PAN or Form No 60 are advised to submit the PAN or Form No 60 to the bank by February 28, 2017, the notification stated.

However, this rule will not apply to Basic Savings Bank Deposit Accounts (BSBDA), which are zero balance savings accounts, including Jandhan accounts.

The BSBDA were introduced to take care of simple banking needs of people, which come with free ATM card, monthly statement and cheque book.

Last month, Reserve Bank of India had mandated that no withdrawal shall be allowed from the accounts having substantial credit balance/deposits if PAN or Form No. 60 is not provided in respect of such accounts.

Meanwhile, the income tax department has asked banks to report cash deposits in savings accounts between April 1 and November 9 to analyse the banking transactions in months before the demonetisation.

After the demonetisation move effective November 9, the tax department had earlier 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.ss