The PAN is compulsory for all transactions above INR 50,000/-, regardless of payment mode – cash, cheque, debit or credit cards.
The new rule, effective from January 1, will cover purchases of all goods or services, such as say gold jewellery or furniture. This includes all payments made through cash, cheques or debit or credit cards.
The limit is increased to INR 50,000 restaurant & hotel bills paid at any one time, and for bills on account of overseas travel. In the case of immovable property, the monetary limit is raised to INR 10 lakh. The limit is being raised to INR 1 lakh from INR 50,000 for purchase or sale of shares of an unlisted company.
Other than that, the requirement of PAN applies to opening of all bank accounts including the co-operative banks. Those who do not hold PAN would have to fill a form and furnish any one of a specified list of documents to establish their identity, according to press statement.
One of the recommendations of the Special Investigation Team on black money was to make PAN compulsory for all sales and purchases of goods and services above INR 1 lakh. Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had accepted this recommendation and announced in his Budget speech earlier this year that it will be notified. The government hopes to reduce the limit to INR 1 lakh eventually and then make quoting PAN mandatory for all cash transactions.