Govt de-activates 11.44 lakh PANs: Four easy steps to find out whether your card is active

In a move aimed at weeding out illegal financial dealings, the government has deleted or de-activated more than 11.44 lakh permanent account numbers (PANs) as of 27 July in cases where multiple numbers were found allotted to one person.

revealing the information in Parliament, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said one PAN for one person is the guiding principle for allotment of PAN.

PAN is the key identifier of taxable entity and aggregator of all financial transactions undertaken by one person.

He further said that as on 27 July, 1,566 PANs have been identified as 'fake' which were allotted to either non- existent person or in the names of persons with false identities.

The facility to delete or de-activate the PAN is available with the Assessing Officer through application software.

Clearly, the government seems to be on a mission against fake PAN numbers. And if you have had multiple PAN cards, chance are your card is one among those deleted.

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Here are four steps to see whether your PAN is deactivated:

Step 1: Go to the Income Tax Department's e-filing website

Step 2: Under Services, click on the 'Know Your Pan' option. That is on the left side panel. This opens to a page where you need to fill in you details. For instance, name, status (individual, Hindu Undivided Family), gender, date of birth and phone number

Step 3: Double check the details and then click the submit button

Step 4: The IT department sends you an OTP or one-time password on your mobile. You need to enter the number in the given space to 'Validate.'

If it’s all okay, on the next page, it will indicate that your PAN is 'Active'. It will, in fact, also show the jurisdiction under which the PAN is active. For instance, WARD 16(2) Mumbai.

That's it. You have to worry only if your PAN is not shown as active. We suggest then that you get in touch with your chartered accountant for further help.

With inputs from PTI