Rule 159 — Transactions in relation to which Permanent Account Number is to be quoted or applied for purposes of section 262(1)(f), 262(10)(c) and (e). Made under s.262 of the Income-tax Act, 2025.
Rule 159 gives effect to Section 262 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 every person to quote his Permanent Account Number in all documents pertaining to the transactions listed in column 2 of the Table, where the value in column 3 is met, and names in column 4 the person receiving or issuing the document.
The Table has sixteen entries. Three of them apply to all such transactions whatever the amount: applying to a banking company, co-operative bank, or any other company or institution for issue of a credit card (entry 1); opening an account with a depository, participant, custodian of securities or other person registered under section 12(1A) of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992 (entry 2); and opening an account with a banking company or co-operative bank other than a time deposit within entry 13 and other than a Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account (entry 12).
The remaining entries carry values. Payment to the Reserve Bank of India for acquiring bonds issued by it, payment to a Mutual Fund for purchase of its units, and payment to a company or institution for acquiring debentures or bonds issued by it each apply to an amount exceeding Rs. 50,000 (entries 3, 4 and 10). A contract for sale or purchase of securities other than shares, and sale or purchase of shares of a company not listed on a recognised stock exchange, each apply to an amount exceeding Rs. 1,00,000 per transaction (entries 5 and 9). Cash deposits, and cash withdrawals, with a banking company, co-operative bank or post office apply where they aggregate to ten lakh rupees or more in a financial year in one or more account of a person (entries 6 and 7). Sale or purchase of a motor vehicle or motor cycle requiring registration under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, other than a tractor, applies to an amount exceeding Rs. 5,00,000 (entry 8). Purchase, sale, gift or joint development agreement of immovable property applies to an amount exceeding twenty lakh rupees, or a value assessed by the stamp valuation authority exceeding twenty lakh rupees (entry 11). A time deposit with a banking company, co-operative bank, post office, Nidhi or a registered non-banking financial company applies where the amount exceeds Rs. 50,000 or aggregates to more than Rs. 5,00,000 during a financial year (entry 13). Commencement of an account-based relationship with an insurer applies where insurance premium exceeds Rs. 50,000 during a financial year (entry 14). Payment in cash to a hotel or restaurant, convention centre, banquet hall or event manager against a bill or bills at any one time applies to an amount exceeding Rs. 1,00,000 (entry 15). Sale or purchase of goods or services of any nature not covered by entries 1 to 15 applies to an amount exceeding Rs. 2,00,000 per transaction (entry 16).
Sub-rule (2) modifies who quotes what. A minor with no income chargeable to tax quotes the Permanent Account Number of his father, mother or guardian. A person, not being a company or a firm, who has no Permanent Account Number and enters into a transaction at entries 11 to 16 makes a declaration in Form No. 97 giving the particulars of the transaction. A foreign company entering into an entry 12 or 13 transaction in an ifsc banking unit, which has neither a Permanent Account Number nor any income chargeable to tax in India, also makes a Form No. 97 declaration.
Sub-rule (3) turns the quoting obligation into an application obligation for the higher-value end. A person, not being a company or a firm, who has no Permanent Account Number must apply for one if he enters into any transaction at entries 1 to 10, or an entry 11 immovable property transaction where the amount, or the value as per the stamp valuation authority, exceeds forty-five lakh rupees.
Sub-rule (4) disapplies sub-rule (3) where the person carrying out an entry 1 to 10 transaction is a non-resident, not being a company, or a foreign company, the transaction is entered into with an ifsc banking unit, and that person has no income chargeable to tax in India.
Sub-rule (5) puts duties on the counterparty named in column 4. That person must ensure the Permanent Account Number has been duly and correctly mentioned after verification, or that a Form No. 97 declaration with complete particulars has been furnished; that the valid Permanent Account Number or the fact of the Form No. 97 is mentioned in the records maintained for the transaction; and that the Permanent Account Number or the Form No. 97 details are linked and mentioned in any information furnished to the income-tax authority or any other authority or agency under the Act or the rules.
Sub-rule (6) exempts two classes from sub-rule (1) altogether: the Central Government, State Governments and consular offices; and non-residents referred to in section 2(72), but only in respect of entries 1, 3, 15 and 16.
Sub-rule (7) defines "ifsc banking unit" by reference to section 3(1)(c) of the International Financial Services Centres Authority Act, 2019 and licensing under the ifsca (Banking) Regulations, 2020, and "time deposit" as any deposit repayable on the expiry of a fixed period. Sub-rule (8) leaves the formats, standards and procedure for authenticating a Permanent Account Number to be laid down by the Principal Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or Director General of Income-tax (Systems).
Section 262 requires a Permanent Account Number to be quoted in prescribed transactions and, in prescribed cases, to be applied for, but the Act cannot list the transactions or their values. This rule is that list. It works from both ends: the person transacting must quote or apply, and the bank, registrar, dealer or issuer named in column 4 must verify and record, so the number reaches the Department attached to the transaction rather than depending on the taxpayer alone.
| What | Figure | The condition on it | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment to the Reserve Bank of India for its bonds | Amount exceeding Rs. 50,000 | Acquiring bonds issued by the Reserve Bank of India | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 3 |
| Payment to a Mutual Fund for purchase of its units | Amount exceeding Rs. 50,000 | Per the transaction described in column 2 | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 4 |
| Contract for sale or purchase of securities other than shares | Amount exceeding Rs. 1,00,000 per transaction | Securities as defined in section 2(h) of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 5 |
| Cash deposits with a bank, co-operative bank or post office | Aggregating to ten lakh rupees or more | In a financial year, in one or more account of a person | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 6 |
| Cash withdrawals from a bank, co-operative bank or post office | Aggregating to ten lakh rupees or more | In a financial year, in one or more account of a person | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 7 |
| Sale or purchase of a motor vehicle or motor cycle | Amount exceeding Rs. 5,00,000 | Vehicle requiring registration under Chapter IV of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, excluding a tractor | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 8 |
| Sale or purchase of shares of a company not listed on a recognised stock exchange | Amount exceeding Rs. 1,00,000 per transaction | By any person | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 9 |
| Payment to a company or institution for its debentures or bonds | Amount exceeding Rs. 50,000 | Acquiring debentures or bonds issued by it | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 10 |
| Purchase, sale, gift or joint development agreement of immovable property | Amount exceeding twenty lakh rupees | Or valued by the stamp valuation authority at an amount exceeding twenty lakh rupees | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 11 |
| Time deposit with a bank, post office, Nidhi or registered non-banking financial company | Amount exceeding Rs. 50,000, or aggregating to more than Rs. 5,00,000 during a financial year | Either limb triggers the requirement | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 13 |
| Account-based relationship with an insurer | Insurance premium exceeding Rs. 50,000 | During a financial year | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 14 |
| Cash payment to a hotel, restaurant, convention centre, banquet hall or event manager | Payment in cash of an amount exceeding Rs. 1,00,000 | Against a bill or bills at any one time | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 15 |
| Sale or purchase of goods or services not covered by entries 1 to 15 | Amount exceeding Rs. 2,00,000 per transaction | Goods or services of any nature | Sub-rule (1), Table Sl. No. 16 |
| Immovable property value at which a person without a PAN must apply for one | Exceeding forty-five lakh rupees | Amount of the immovable property, or its value as per the stamp valuation authority; applies to a person not being a company or a firm | Sub-rule (3)(b) |
Two obligations run at different levels and are easily confused. Quoting under sub-rule (1) applies across all sixteen entries at the column 3 values; applying for a Permanent Account Number under sub-rule (3) applies only to a person other than a company or firm, only on entries 1 to 10, and on entry 11 only above forty-five lakh rupees — well above the twenty lakh rupees at which entry 11 requires quoting. A person selling property for thirty lakh rupees must therefore quote, and may use Form No. 97 if he has no number, but is not driven to apply for one. The cash entries at 6 and 7 aggregate across a financial year and across one or more accounts of the person, so no single deposit need cross ten lakh rupees for the entry to bite. Entry 13 is disjunctive: a single time deposit above Rs. 50,000 triggers it, and so does an aggregate above Rs. 5,00,000 in the year even where each deposit is small. The counterparty's duty in sub-rule (5) is verification, not collection — the number must be correct after verification and must be carried into the records and into any information furnished onward. The exemption in sub-rule (6)(b) for non-residents referred to in section 2(72) is partial, reaching only entries 1, 3, 15 and 16, so such a non-resident still quotes on the other entries. Two cross-references in the published text are loose: sub-rule (2)(c) opens "out of the transactions mentioned in clause (ii)" although sub-rule (2) is lettered (a) to (c), and entry 11 refers to the stamp valuation authority referred to in section 78 while sub-rule (3)(b) describes section 78 as being of the Registration Act, 1908 — the operative content in each case is the transaction and the stamp-valuation measure.
An individual with no Permanent Account Number sells a flat for Rs 32,00,000 whose stamp valuation is Rs 34,00,000. Entry 11 is crossed at twenty lakh rupees, so the number must be quoted in the documents; having none, and not being a company or a firm, he makes a declaration in Form No. 97 under sub-rule (2)(b). Because neither the consideration nor the stamp value exceeds forty-five lakh rupees, sub-rule (3)(b) does not oblige him to apply for a Permanent Account Number. The Sub-Registrar named in column 4 must ensure under sub-rule (5) that the Form No. 97 is furnished with complete particulars and that the fact of its furnishing is recorded and carried into any information furnished onward. Separately, the same person makes six cash deposits of Rs 2,00,000 each into two bank accounts during the year; entry 6 aggregates them to Rs 12,00,000, which is above ten lakh rupees, so the quoting obligation applies although no single deposit came near the figure.
A reader meets it at the counter — the bank account opening form, the property document before the Sub-Registrar, the mutual fund application, the vehicle sale paper, the hotel bill paid in cash — wherever a Permanent Account Number field appears and a declaration in Form No. 97 is offered as the alternative.
Every person shall quote his Permanent Account Number in all documents, pertaining to the transactions specified in column 2 for value of transaction specified in column 3 of the following Table
any person who is a minor, not having any income chargeable to tax, and who enters into any of the said transactions, shall quote the Permanent Account Number of his father or mother or guardian
Permanent Account Number after verification, has been duly and correctly mentioned therein or as the case may be, a declaration in Form No. 97 has been duly furnished with complete particulars