Deactivated PANs give taxpayers tough time

Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 29

On the one hand the last date for filing income tax returns is approaching, on the other many taxpayers are taken aback on finding their Permanent Account Number (PAN) deactivated. Some technical error in the system is to blame for the deactivation of PANs. These taxpayers are now rushing to the department to get their PANs activated.

One of the taxpayers, Gautam Dhir, said he went to his advocate to file his return and was shocked to know that his PAN had been deactivated. The message on the screen reads “PAN deactivated”. My advocate told me that many taxpayers were facing this problem. I went to the office the following day and submitted an application and my PAN was activated. The department should be careful and do not let such errors occur as the last date for filing returns is drawing near,” he said.

Ramesh Goyal, a chartered accountant, said there was some error in the department’s system due to which many PANs have been deactivated. “I have been asking my clients to check the status of their PANs before coming to file returns,” he said.

“My PAN got deactivated. I went to the department and it was activated in no time. The entire exercise consumes a lot of time,” said another taxpayer.

Meanwhile, Rakesh Parmar, Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, said PANs which had similar names or dates of birth had been deactivated. “Taxpayers can contact the accessing officer and get them activated,” he said.