Furnishing PAN will be mandatory from January 1 2016 for any cash transactions such as hotel or foreign travel bills exceeding Rs50,000 cash payment - a move aimed at curbing the black money menace. Besides, PAN will be a must for all transactions, including purchase of jewellery, above Rs2 lakhs in cash or through card with effect from January 1, 2016, according to the Finance Ministry.
PAN will also be mandatory on purchase of immovable property of over Rs10 lakh. This will be a relief to small home buyers as previously the government had proposed to make PAN mandatory for property worth Rs5 lakh. Quoting of Permanent Account Number (PAN) will also be mandatory for term deposits exceeding Rs50,000 at one go or Rs5 lakh in a year with banks, Post Offices and NBFCs. The notification said PAN would be mandatory for payments of more than Rs50,000 for cash cards or prepaid instruments as well as for acquiring shares of unlisted companies for Rs1 lakh and above. It has also been made mandatory for opening all bank accounts except Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana accounts.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had earlier this month announced in Parliament that PAN would be made mandatory for all cash and card transactions beyond Rs2 lakh. The limit is double of Rs1 lakh that he had proposed in 2015-16 Budget, but is lower than the existing threshold of Rs5 lakh. Making cash deposit of more than Rs50,000 or purchase of bank draft/pay orders/bankers cheque of equal denomination on a single day, payment of life insurance premium of Rs50,000 in a year would also require quoting of PAN.