From PAN to TAN……….The acronyms are back (contd)

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“Dios Mio! Is holding a PAN card so important? Ok, so how do I apply for one? And how long will it take to get one?” asked Miguel. His student replied that Miguel should first file an application in Form 49AA (since he was a foreign national, an Indian citizen has to file in Form 49A) along with 2 recent passport- size photographs, ID proof , address proof , proof of date of birth , and other particulars as mentioned in tin-nsdl.com. The form and required particulars are to be submitted to an authorised PAN agency which will generate a receipt after e-filing the same. After this, the PAN card would be sent by courier to the mentioned address within a span of 10-15 days. “Oh! So I better get started on this process so as to avoid any hassles in the future,” thought Miguel.

He had another doubt, “I have seen the term TAN on some documents, what is it? Is it different from PAN? Or have they just misspelled it?” To this his student replied that TAN was in fact different from PAN and stood for Tax deduction Account Number and every person liable to deduct tax is supposed to obtain a TAN.   The TAN is to be quoted while remitting the TDS (tax deducted at source) to the government account and also while filing the TDS returns. TAN can be applied for using Form 49B at a TIN facilitation Centre. Failure to obtain a TAN shall result in a penalty of Rs 10,000. Miguel thanked his student for patiently explaining the nuances of the acronyms that confronted him.