Transgenders to be recognised as independent gender category in PAN form

The application form for PAN now has a new tick box for transgenders. The notification, issued under sections 139A and 295 of the Income Tax Act, specifies the new application process for obtaining a PAN number by an individual for easier tax-related transactions.

Now, there will be a separate column for male, female and transgenders. Till now, only male and female gender categories were available to be chosen on the PAN application form. PAN is a 10-digit unique alphanumeric number alloted by the I-T department to individuals and entities.

"Individuals from the transgender community were facing hassles in obtaining a PAN card and this problem was further magnified as Aadhaar had the third gender category but not PAN. "Hence, the transgenders were not able to link their PAN with their Aadhaar due to this anomaly," a senior offical was quoted by PTI as saying.

The amendment will now be reflected in Form 49A (PAN application form for Indian citizens) and 49AA (PAN application form for individuals not a citizen of India). The apec court directive came on a petition of a transgender person alleging that her attempts to link her PAN card with Aadhaar in accordance with the new norm had failed because the PAN card application form does not contain a 'third gender' column.

The government has now made quoting of Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns (ITRs) as well as obtaining a new PAN.

Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act says that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities. As per updated data till March 5, over 16.65 crore PANs, out of the total about 33 crore, have been linked with Aadhaar. The deadline to link these two has been extended recently till June 30 by the CBDT.