Rule 158 — Application for allotment of a Permanent Account Number. Made under s.262, s.349 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 158 gives effect to Section 262 and Section 349 of the Income-tax Act, 2025. A rule cannot go beyond the section it serves: where the two seem to differ, the section governs.
Sub-rule (1) requires an application under section 262 for allotment of a Permanent Account Number to be made in Form No. 93, Form No. 94, Form No. 95 or Form No. 96, as the case may be, in accordance with sub-rule (8). Sub-rule (2) allows an applicant also to apply through a common application form as may be notified by the Central Government.
Sub-rules (3) and (4) provide the Aadhaar route: a person who has not been allotted a Permanent Account Number but possesses an Aadhaar number may apply under section 262(1), (2) or (11) by intimating his Aadhaar number to the authorities in sub-rule (4), and the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) shall on receipt authenticate that Aadhaar number for the purpose.
Sub-rules (5) and (6) fix where the application goes: to the particular Assessing Officer to whom the Chief Commissioner or Commissioner has assigned the allotment function, and in any other case to the Assessing Officer having jurisdiction to assess the applicant; "Assessing Officer" here includes an income-tax authority assigned the duty of allotting Permanent Account Numbers by the Director General of Income-tax (Systems).
Sub-rule (7) sets the time limits by a Table of seven entries. A person whose total income, or the total income of another person for which he is assessable, exceeds the maximum amount not chargeable to income-tax and who has no Permanent Account Number must apply on or before the 31st May of the tax year immediately succeeding the tax year for which the income is assessable. A person not within that entry but carrying on a business or profession whose total sales, turnover or gross receipts are or are likely to exceed Rs. 500000 in any tax year must apply before the end of that tax year. A person required to furnish a return under section 349 must apply before the end of the tax year. A person entitled to receive any sum, income or amount on which tax is deductible or collectible under Chapter XIX-B in any tax year must apply before the end of that tax year. A resident other than an individual entering into a tax transaction of an amount aggregating to Rs. 250000 or more must apply on or before the 31st May immediately following that tax year. The managing director, director, partner, trustee, author, founder, karta, chief executive officer, principal officer or office bearer of such a person, or anyone competent to act on its behalf, must apply on or before the 31st May immediately following the tax year in which that person enters into the financial transaction. A person who intends to enter into a transaction prescribed under section 262(1)(f) and section 262(9)(a) must apply at least seven days before the date on which he intends to enter into it.
Sub-rule (8)(a) prescribes Form 93 for an individual who is a citizen of India and sets out a Table of documents accepted as proof of identity, address and date of birth, each document being marked yes or no against each of the three purposes. It runs from the Aadhaar card, Indian passport, driving licence and elector's photo identity card through ration card, transgender identity card, government or public sector undertaking photo identity card, pensioner card and health scheme cards, to spouse's passport, post office passbook, domicile certificate, government allotment letter not more than three years old, property registration document, latest property tax assessment order, electricity, landline or broadband, water and gas bills and bank, depository and credit card statements not more than three months old, and birth, pension payment, marriage and matriculation documents for date of birth; and separately lists originals accepted, being certificates of identity or address signed by a Member of Parliament, Member of Legislative Assembly, Municipal Councillor or Gazetted Officer, a bank certificate, an employer certificate and an affidavit sworn before a Magistrate. Three notes govern minors and Indian citizens residing outside India.
Sub-rule (8)(b) sets out a second Table matching each other class of applicant to its Form and its documents: Form No. 94 for a Hindu undivided family, a company registered in India, a limited liability partnership formed or registered in India, a firm other than a limited liability partnership, a trust, an association of persons other than trusts or body of individuals, a local authority or artificial juridical person, and a person applying on behalf of the Central Government, State Government or Union Territory Administration; Form No. 95 for individuals not being citizens of India, with separate lists of proofs of identity, date of birth and address; and Form No. 96 for a limited liability partnership, company, firm, association of persons being trusts, and any other entity, in each case registered or formed outside India.
Sub-rules (9) and (10) deal with intimation of Aadhaar. Every person allotted a Permanent Account Number who is required by section 262(6)(a) to intimate his Aadhaar number shall intimate it to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or a person authorised by that authority; and a person who was required to do so and failed by 30th June, 2023 is liable to pay, at the time of subsequent intimation, a fee of an amount equal to Rs. 1000.
Sub-rules (11) to (14) leave the machinery to the Director General of Income-tax (Systems), who is to specify the classes of persons, forms, guidelines, standards, formats and procedure for the common application form under sub-rule (2); the forms, formats and procedure for a correction application under section 262(4); the formats, guidelines, standards and procedure for verification of documents filed under sub-rule (8), intimation of Aadhaar under sub-rule (9) and issue of the Permanent Account Number; and the formats, guidelines, standards and procedure for intimation and authentication of Aadhaar numbers and for obtaining demographic information from the Unique Identification Authority of India, together with the security, archival and retrieval policies for all of it.
Section 262 requires a Permanent Account Number to be applied for but leaves the form, the documents, the recipient officer and the deadline to be prescribed. This rule supplies all four, and the deadlines are its real work: it converts an obligation stated in the abstract into a date for each class of person — income above the exemption limit, turnover above Rs. 500000, a return obligation, receipts liable to deduction or collection, a large transaction by a non-individual resident, the office bearers of such a person, and anyone about to enter a prescribed transaction. The document Tables then let an application be tested on the papers alone.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline where total income exceeds the maximum amount not chargeable to income-tax | On or before the 31st May of the tax year immediately succeeding the tax year for which such income is assessable | The person has not been allotted any Permanent Account Number | Sub-rule (7), Table Sl. No. 1 |
| Turnover threshold for a business or profession | Rs. 500000 | Total sales, turnover or gross receipts are or are likely to exceed this in any tax year; application before the end of that tax year | Sub-rule (7), Table Sl. No. 2 |
| Deadline for a person required to furnish a return under section 349 | Before the end of the tax year | The person has not been allotted any Permanent Account Number | Sub-rule (7), Table Sl. No. 3 |
| Deadline for a person entitled to receive a sum on which tax is deductible or collectible | Before the end of such tax year | Deduction or collection under Chapter XIX-B in any tax year | Sub-rule (7), Table Sl. No. 4 |
| Transaction threshold for a resident other than an individual | An amount aggregating to Rs. 250000 or more | A tax transaction entered into in a tax year; application on or before the 31st May immediately following that tax year | Sub-rule (7), Table Sl. No. 5 |
| Deadline for office bearers of a person within Table Sl. No. 5 | On or before the 31st May immediately following the tax year in which that person enters into the financial transaction | The office bearer has not been allotted any Permanent Account Number | Sub-rule (7), Table Sl. No. 6 |
| Lead time before a prescribed transaction | At least seven days before the date on which he intends to enter into the said transaction | A person intending to enter into a transaction prescribed under section 262(1)(f) and section 262(9)(a) | Sub-rule (7), Table Sl. No. 7 |
| Fee for late intimation of Aadhaar number | An amount equal to Rs. 1000 | Payable at the time of subsequent intimation by a person required under section 262(6)(a) who failed to intimate by 30th June, 2023 | Sub-rule (10) |
| Age of utility bills and statements accepted as proof of address | Not more than three months old | Electricity, landline or broadband, water and piped gas bills and bank, depository and credit card statements | Sub-rule (8)(a), Table entries 16 to 22 |
| Age of a government allotment letter of accommodation accepted as proof of address | Not more than three years old | Issued by the Central Government or State Government | Sub-rule (8)(a), Table entry 13 |
Every deadline in the Table is triggered by a state of affairs, not by any demand from the Department, so the obligation runs whether or not anything is received. Two of the entries run to the 31st May after the tax year and three run to the end of the tax year itself, which is the earlier date, so identifying the right entry matters more than remembering a single date. Entry 7 is the one that is easy to miss: it requires the application at least seven days before a prescribed transaction, which means the Number has to be arranged in advance of the transaction rather than quoted after it. The document Tables are matched to purpose, not to prestige — the Aadhaar card proves identity and address but not date of birth, a ration card with photograph proves identity alone, and a bank statement proves only address and only if not more than three months old. Sub-rule (10) states a fee of Rs. 1000 for late intimation of Aadhaar, tied to the 30th June, 2023 default date; everything about the manner of that intimation, the correction application under section 262(4) and the verification of documents is left by sub-rules (11) to (14) to what the Director General of Income-tax (Systems) specifies, and no figure for those may be read into the rule.
A resident firm enters into a tax transaction of Rs. 3 lakh during the tax year and has no Permanent Account Number. Because Rs. 3 lakh is Rs. 250000 or more, Table Sl. No. 5 applies and the firm must apply in Form No. 94 on or before the 31st May immediately following that tax year; its partners, having no Number of their own, must apply by the same date under Table Sl. No. 6. A partner who is a citizen of India applies in Form No. 93 with his Aadhaar card for identity and address and his matriculation certificate for date of birth, the Aadhaar card not being proof of date of birth under the sub-rule (8)(a) Table.
A reader meets this rule when applying for a Permanent Account Number in Form No. 93, 94, 95 or 96 and assembling the proofs the sub-rule (8) Tables require, when intimating an Aadhaar number under section 262(6)(a), and when a transaction requiring the Number is about to be entered into and the seven-day lead time in Table Sl. No. 7 has to be met.
On or before the 31st May of the tax year immediately succeeding the tax year, for which such income is assessable.
At least seven days before the date on which he intends to enter into the said transaction.
shall, at the time of subsequent intimation of his Aadhaar number to the prescribed authority, be liable to pay, by way of fee, an amount equal to Rs. 1000
