Business Desk, New Delhi. A recent case highlights the dangers of PAN misuse in India. A homemaker woman from Mumbai was asked to pay tax for selling a property she never sold. This incident highlights the vulnerabilities of the system and underlines the importance of protecting your PAN information.

An elderly woman in Mumbai received a tax notice for selling property worth Rs 1.3 crore in 2010-11, about which she had no knowledge. After this, she had to file a case at the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) level for misuse of her PAN.

Illiterate and a cancer patient, the woman did not respond to the income tax notice. In a recent hearing before the ITAT, her lawyer submitted that her PAN was misused in property registration.

Negligence of Income Tax Officer

The tribunal noted that the income tax officer had not conducted an independent inquiry, including seeking details from the registrar of the property and the buyer. It ordered the income tax department to seek full details from the registrar and provide the information to the woman.

This incident is not an isolated one, dead people, senior citizens, small business owners, farmers and women are the targets of PAN scammers across India.

It is important to be careful

• Financial experts stress on the safety of your PAN details. Share them only when mandated by the government.
• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) advises against unnecessary PANs and recommends filing a police complaint in case of suspected misuse. The aim of linking PAN with Aadhaar was to prevent such frauds.
• You need to keep checking your Annual Information Statement (AIS). This document gives details of bank interest, dividends and property transactions reported by various entities.
• Identifying anomalies in the AIS allows for immediate correction within the system. If problems still persist, a police complaint should be filed.