Furnishing (Permanent Account
Number) PAN will be mandatory from Friday for cash transactions such as hotel
or foreign travel bills exceeding Rs50,000 - a move aimed at curbing the black
money menace.
Besides, PAN will be a must
for all transactions, including purchase of jewellery, above Rs 200,000 in cash
or through card with effect from January 1, 2016, the Finance Ministry of India
said in a notification.
PAN will also be mandatory
on purchase of immovable property of over Rs1 million. This will be a relief to
small home buyers as previously the government had proposed to make PAN mandatory
for property worth Rs500,000.
Quoting of Permanent Account
Number (PAN) will also be mandatory for term deposits exceeding Rs50,000 at one
go or Rs500,000 in a year with banks, Post Offices and NBFCs.
The notification said PAN would
be mandatory for payments of more than Rs 50,000 for cash cards or prepaid
instruments as well as for acquiring shares of unlisted companies for Rs100,000
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 Rs200,000.
The limit is double of Rs100,000
that he had proposed in 2015-16 Budget, but is lower than the existing
threshold of Rs500,000.
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.
In keeping with the government's
thrust on financial inclusion, opening of a no-frills bank account such as a
Jan Dhan account will not require PAN.
Other
than that, the requirement of PAN applies to opening of all bank accounts
including in co-operative banks. 
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