Pan for Non Residents

Non-resident individuals and organisations need to have a Permanent Account Number (PAN) number if they receive an income and need to file returns in India. PAN is issued by the Income Tax (IT) Department to all assessees and quoting of PAN is compulsory in all returns filed with the IT department.

The PAN number comprises of ten alphanumeric characters and is issued in the form of a laminated card. A PAN card is required for both resident as well as non-resident assessees. In case of non-resident assessees, there are a few minor changes in the requirements for an application.

A non-resident assessee is:

A citizen of India residing outside India at the time of making application

Not a citizen of India i.e. foreign citizen

Other than individual (a company, trust, firm, etc) - not a citizen of India - having no office of its own in India.

The following points should be noted while applying for the PAN:

AO Code : AO code pertaining to International Taxation Directorate should be used.

Address: A foreign address can be provided as residential (only for individuals) and office address by such applicants, if they do not have any Indian address of their own. Individual applicants may indicate any address (residential or office -whether Indian or abroad) as the address for communication.

Additional courier charges for PAN card dispatch shall be payable by applicant at the time of making application if the address for communication is a foreign address. Complete address including name of state, province (if applicable) and name of country should be clearly mentioned in the application as part of the address.

A proper zip or pin code, if applicable, should be provided by the applicant. Further, a valid email address must be provided by such applicants. It is to be noted that providing details of Residential Address (RA) is not mandatory in the PAN application for such applicants. However, if RA details are provided, proof of identity and address in respect of RA shall be required in addition to those of the applicant.

Photograph and signature: Individual applicants should provide their own recent colour photograph of prescribed size. This is not applicable for other applicants. Application should always be signed by the applicant himself / herself in all cases (for individuals). In case of applicants other than individuals, application should be signed by an authorized signatory on behalf of the applicant (eg director of the company or partner of the firm or trustee of the trust, etc).

Even if the RA details are provided, the application should be signed by the applicant (in case of individual applicants) or by the authorized signatory (for non-individual applicants).