Planning to apply for a PAN Card?

If yes, you can do so by submitting either of the two forms, namely Form 49A and Form 49AA. With two forms for the purpose, one might wonder which is applicable to them.

To that end, the following section will be a great help. Stay with us and learn everything about PAN Card Form 49A and 49AA

As stated earlier, a person can apply for a PAN Card by submitting either Form 49A or 49AA.

PAN (Permanent Account Number) is a 10-digit alphanumeric number issued by the Income Tax Department. All earning individuals or non-individual entities require PAN to pay taxes and avail government subsidies

Form 49A is an application form specifically for individuals residing in India. On the other hand, Form 49AA is an application form primarily for foreign residents and non-individual entities incorporated outside India.

Individuals can download the application form (49AA or 49A new Form) online from UTIITSL (UTI Infrastructure and Technology Services Limited) and NSDL (National Securities Depository Limited) e-Governance website.

After successfully downloading the form, individuals need to fill it with the correct details and make the necessary payment online thereafter.

In PAN Card Form 49AA, the KYC details must be filled by the applicant or Foreign Institutional Investor or a Qualified Foreign Investor as mentioned under SEBI regulations.

After that, they can submit the form with the required documents and photographs.

Now that the fog’s clear around what is Form 49A and Form “49AA”, let’s move on to their structures.

The structures of Form no 49A and Form 49AA are quite similar.

Form 49A is structured uniformly and divided into different sections, easing the form filling process. It has 16 components, and each of those has one subsection.

In this case, an applicant has to fill in general details like AO code, address, name, parents name, and source of income, among others.

However, in Form 49AA, individuals or entities need to fill in KYC details as well. The details necessary for individuals and non-individuals may vary.

Read along!

For Individuals

Form 49AA demands individuals to fill in details such as – 

• Marital status
• Citizenship status 
• Occupation details (private sector, public sector, or self-employed)

For Non-Individuals (Companies)

Non-individuals/companies are required to provide the information mentioned below – 

• Company type – public company, a private company, non-government or charitable organisation, body corporate
• Net-worth (assets minus liabilities) in Indian rupees
• Gross annual income denominated in Indian rupees
• Involvement in any of the following services – gaming/gambling/lottery services (casinos and betting syndicates) or money lending, pawning, foreign exchange, and money changer services
• Taxpayer Identification Number or TIN in the residential country
• Check if one or more members of the same family hold beneficial ownership and control
• Whether an applicant or his/her authorised trustee, office bearer, or signatory have political involvements

The two separate PAN Card filling form methods are discussed below –

Online Method to Fill Form 49a and Form 49aa

Individuals can apply for an online PAN card through either the NSDL and UTIITSL portal.

Via NSDL

• Step-1- Visit the official website of “NSDL”. 
• Step-2- Navigate to the form related to the PAN Card application. Select application type – ‘New PAN- Indian Citizen (Form 49A)/New PAN - Foreign Citizen (Form 49AA)’ and categories such as individual, an association of persons, a body of individuals, company, trust, and limited liability partnership. 
• Step-3- Provide applicant’s information and basic details like name, surname, middle name, title, date of birth, e-mail ID, and mobile number, among others.  
• Step-4- Enter captcha code
• Step-5- Click on “Submit”.

Via UTIITSL

Step-1- Visit the official website of “UTIITSL”. 

Step-2- Click on ‘For PAN Cards’

Step-3- Select ‘Apply PAN Card’ from the drop-down list

Step-4- The main page will display various options, including the tabs of PAN Card on Indian Citizen/NRI as for PAN Card for Foreign Citizen.  

Step-5- Click on the ‘Click to Apply’ link below either of the tabs per applicability. 

If you select a PAN Card as an Indian Citizen/NRI, the following page will again show three tabs. Select 'Apply for New PAN Card(Form 49A)'.

Alternate Step-6- Fill out the details and check the options.

Alternate Step-7- Click on Submit. 

If you select a PAN Card as for Foreign Citizen, the following page will again display four tabs. Click on ‘Apply for New PAN Card (Form 49AA)’.

Alternate Step-6- Provide data on the relevant boxes.

Alternate Step-7- Enter captcha code.

Alternate Step-8- Click on “Submit”.

Step-9- After clicking on “Submit”, one has to make the payment. 

Applicants can complete payment through credit card, debit card, wallet payments, and UPI, among others. Acknowledgement receipts will be generated thereafter.

Step-10- After a successful payment, individuals need to download the application form, acknowledgement receipts, and take a printout.

Step-11- Finally, upload the scanned images of supporting documents, photos, and signature, and digitally sign the application online.

Please note that PAN Card’s online application process is based on e-sign (Aadhaar based e-sign) and Digital Signature Certificate (DSC).

Therefore, applicants need not submit any physical document for e-sign or DSC-based PAN applications.

However, individuals can choose to forward the documents physically.

For this, they have to send all the documents – duly signed and photos along with acknowledgement receipts and other supporting documents – to ‘INCOME TAX PAN SERVICES UNIT (Managed by NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited)’ at 5th Floor Mantri Sterling, Plot No. 341, Survey No. 997/8, Model Colony, Near Deep Bungalow Chowk, Pune-411 016.

Offline Method to Fill Form 49A and Form 49AA

Follow the steps mentioned below for Form 49 AA and Form 49A online filling – 

• Step-1- Visit the official website of NSDL or UTIITSL.
• Step-2- Select “New PAN” from the website.
• Step-3- Choose Form 49A and Form 49AA.
• Step-4- Fill out the details in the respective form. using block letters.
• Step-5- After filling in the required data, submit the form.
• Step-6- Complete the processing fee payment. An acknowledgement slip will be generated.
• Step-7- Take a printout of the form and sign in the relevant box.
• Step-8- Attach photographs of the acknowledgement along with other supporting documents and a copy of the Demand Draft (if you pay the processing fee through DD). 
• Step-9- Submit the form and documents to the NSDL office within 15 days of submitting the online application form. 

Once all the procedures are completed, the PAN Card will be dispatched to the given address (as mentioned in the form) within 15 working days.

To apply for a PAN Card, applicants need to submit several documents. These include:

Identity Proof

Individuals submitting Form 49A must provide the following documents like identity proof –

• Passport
• Aadhaar Card
• Driving license
• Arm’s licence
• Bank certificate  
• Any photo identity card issued by a government body
• Pensioner Card with the applicant’s photograph 

Similarly, one must provide the following documents as proof of identity to submit Form 49AA – 

• Passport
• Aadhaar Card
• Driving licence
• OCICard or PIO Card
• Non-resident external bank account statements in India
• Bank statements from the country where an applicant is working
• Taxpayer Identity Number or National Identity Number and Citizenship Identity Number must be attested by the High Commission Consulate or by Indian Embassy operating in the applicant’s home country.

Address Proof

Form 49A applicants must provide the following documents –

• Electricity bill
• Landline bill
• Water bill
• Bank account statement
• Passport
• Aadhaar Card 
• Consumer gas connection
• Depository account statement
• Post office passbook
• Passport of the spouse
• A government-issued domicile certificate 
• Employer certificate
• Broadband connection bill

Form 49AA applicants must provide the following documents: 

• Passport
• Water bill
• Electricity bill
• Telephone bill
• OCI Card or PIO Card
• Non-resident external bank account statements in India
• Registration certificate issued by Foreign Registration office
• Bank statements from the country where an applicant is working
• National Identity Number or Taxpayer Identity Number, Citizenship Identity Number should be attested by the High Commission Consulate or by Indian Embassy operating in the applicant’s home country.

Birth Proof

Applicants must provide the following documents here – 

• A birth certificate copy issued by a municipal authority or the Indian Consulate as defined in clause (d) of Sub-Section (1) of ​ Section 2 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (57 of 1955) or any office authorised to issue birth and death certificate by the Registrar of Birth and Death.
• Matriculation Certificate
• Pension payment order
• ​Marriage certificate issued by Registrar of Marriages
• Passport
• Driving licence 
• Domicile certificate issued by the government
• An affidavit must be sworn before a magistrate stating the date of birth.

Apart from knowing how to fill Form no 49A and 49AA, individuals must also follow certain instructions while filling the respective forms.

The instructions for filing Form 49A and Form 49AA includes,

• Form 49AA and Form 49A online fill up and offline fill-up must be in English.
• Each box should be filled with a single character (alphabet/number/punctuation sign). Also, each filled up word must follow a blank box. This order should be maintained in each case.

• The form should be filled with black ink.

• Avoid using title, abbreviation, or salutation.

• Fields/boxes marked with an asterisk are to be filled mandatorily.
• Applicants must provide their AO code details in the PAN Card form for individuals/partnership firms/entities.
• Those filling Form 49AA must provide the international taxation AO code. However, if it’s unknown to the applicant, a default AO code of international taxation under Delhi RCC (DLC-C -35-1) can be provided.
• All the details provided in the form must be correct.
• Avoid overwriting.

• Provide signature or thumb impression across the photo.

• Attach all the necessary documents.

Now that you know the filing of 49A and 49AA instructions and methods, you can easily apply for a new PAN Card.