New Income Tax Rules 2026: PAN Mandatory for High-Value Transactions as Form 97 Replaces Form 60
Effective April 1, 2026, transactions including motor vehicle purchases over Rs 5 lakh, demat account openings, and mutual fund investments above Rs 50,000 require PAN
Quick Look
- New Income Tax Rules, 2026 effective April 1, 2026 mandate PAN for high-value transactions including purchase of motor vehicles above Rs 5 lakh, opening demat accounts, and investing in mutual funds above Rs 50,000.
- Form 60 has been replaced by Form 97 under the Income Tax Act, 2025, with expected reduction in filings by 80-85% from 12.5 crore to approximately 2 crore annually.
AI-generated summary
Certain goods including gold, and services like demat account among others can't be bought without a PAN number from the Income Tax Department.
Earlier, if you didn't have a PAN number, you used to need to file Form 60. The term used is 'was' as Form 60 has now been re-engineered and replaced by Form 97 under the Income Tax Act, 2025 read with Income Tax Rules, 2026.
Both the new forms and the new act and rules are effective from April 1, 2026.
The new forms feature simple language, standardised pre-filled formats, and tech-driven processes to reduce errors and disputes. The tax department also mentioned in a brochure that the re-engineered Form 97 and 98 which replaces Form 60 and Form 61, are designed to make compliance easier.
As a result of re-engineering, the filing of these forms is expected to be reduced by around 80-85% from the current annual filing of approximately 12.5 crore.
For buying any goods like gold jewellery above Rs 2 lakh, do you need PAN under Income Tax Rules, 2026? Chartered Accountant Suresh Surana says that under Rule 159 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026 [corresponding to Rule 114B of the Income-tax Rules, 1962], PAN has been quoted for specified transactions, with Sl. No. 16 of Rule 159(1) covering the sale or purchase of goods or services exceeding Rs 2 lakh per transaction.
Accordingly, transactions like purchase of gold jewellery would continue to be included within its ambit.
Although the updated rules reflect a broader intent to rationalise compliance and reduce reporting for routine and lower-value transactions, there is no specific amendment affecting high-value purchases of goods, including jewellery.
Surana says: "As such, the requirement to quote PAN for transactions above Rs 2 lakh remains applicable under the current framework."
According to Surana, the sharp reduction in Form 97 of Income Tax Rules 2026 (corresponding to Form 60 of Income Tax Rules 1962) filings from around 12 crore to an estimated 2 crore is largely attributable to the rationalisation of reporting requirements and a shift towards PAN-based compliance.
In this process, routine, low-risk, and high-volume transactions have either been excluded or significantly streamlined, with Form 97 now confined to limited residual use cases, resulting in a substantial decline in overall filing volumes.
According to Surana, here are the transactions where Form 97 is no longer permitted (PAN mandatory instead):
- Purchase of motor vehicles above Rs 5 lakh - Application for credit card - Opening of demat accounts - Investment in mutual funds, debentures, bonds (including RBI bonds) above Rs 50,000 - Cash deposits and withdrawals exceeding specified thresholds (Rs 10 lakh) - Contract for sale or purchases of securities (above Rs 1 lakh per transaction) - Sale or purchases of unlisted shares (above Rs 1 lakh per transaction)
Surana says that these transactions have been removed entirely from the Form 97 reporting ambit:
- Purchase of foreign currency - Cash purchase of bank drafts, pay orders, or banker's cheques - Transactions in prepaid payment instruments (PPIs)
