The Income Tax Department (I-T), under the Government of India, makes it mandatory for companies, firms and individuals to have a PAN (Permanent Account Number) if they wish to carry out financial transactions or investments. The PAN is an alphanumeric code issued by the I-T department to all individuals and entities which come under the Income Tax Act of 1961. For availing a PAN card, one does not need to visit the Income-tax office as the facility to submit a pan card application form and obtain a PAN card has been made online.

Also, non-resident Indians (NRIs) living outside India can get a PAN card by simply using the facility to apply PAN card online. Alankit Limited has created a niche for itself in the financial services industry by offering a host of government-to-citizen services in a prompt and efficient manner, through its country-wide network in over 673 cities and 6120 business locations.

In all the metropolises and other prominent cities, Alankit has set up Tax Information Network (TIN) Facilitation centers for the processing of pan application form. For instance, in the state of Maharashtra, there are 15 branches in the financial capital of India, Mumbai and 52 branches in Pune whereas the National Capital, Delhi has as many as 139 branches. These centres have dedicated staff and many auditors for guiding the applicants through the process. The Tax Information Network (TIN) is a contemporary system for the collection, processing, monitoring and accounting of direct taxes. The applicants must approach these centres and request for Form 49A if they want to apply for a new PAN card and Form 49B if they want to make changes in their PAN cards. After duly filling the forms with correction information, they must submit documents for verification purposes such as proof of identity (POI), proof of address (POA) and passport-sized photographs. Alankit receives PAN application form on behalf of National Income Tax Department at these centers and looks after the further processes.

PAN card applications for NRIs in Dubai or Sharjah are accepted at Alankit’s offices in these cities. The company also provides special arrangement to pick up PAN Application from the doorstep of the applications at nominal additional charges. After the mandatory verification of applicant’s information, the application is processed within a time span of 15 days. In cases of corrections, processing of pan card correction application form takes a little longer and the card is issued within 25 days.

Alankit lets applicants download online pan application form through its website. The ‘Application for Allotment of Permanent Account Number’ is of two types and applicants must make the right selection to prevent any mistake. As stated above, Form 49A must be selected by Indian Citizens and Indian companies within India for issuance of new PAN Application or for making corrections by existing PAN holders. For entities and individuals who stay outside India, they must select Form 49AA.

The online facility for applying for and availing a PAN card is speedier than the manual process. Applicants can expect their application forms to be processed and completed within a period as early as two weeks whereas the Permanent Account Number issued by the Income Tax Department within five working days only.

The applicants have yet another method available with them. This includes downloading the applications from the website, filling the same and then submitting them at the nearest TIN Facilitation Center (TIN-FC) of Alankit. The completed applications are then digitised by Alankit and forwarded to Income Tax Department. After this, the Income Tax Department issues the TAN letter to the applicant as per the TAN allotted to it through ITD.

In order to ensure the process is smooth, Alankit keeps the applicants updated with the rules of filling the form as even a minor mistake can extend the processing time. The dos and don’ts include refraining from any overwriting in the document or use of in staple pins on the photograph; providing clear signature only in the designated box; providing only precise information as requested without any unwanted detail.