New Delhi: You can get your Permanent Account Number (PAN) card in four hours now, as the Income Tax Department is planning to introduce a slew of measures to ease the process of obtaining a PAN, the Times of India reported.

Last month, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had issued a notification announcing that the Income Tax Rules, 1962, has been amended with effect from December 5.

Here’s what is going to change:

1.    If you apply for a PAN card December 5 onwards, it will not be mandatory to write the father’s name in the application. The I-T department has made an exception for single mothers and is also considerate to anyone whose father is deceased or estranged.

2.    The I-T department has made the holding of a PAN card mandatory for all businesses doing transactions worth 2.5 lakh in a financial year, to avoid tax evasion.

3.    The I-T department will also start issuing electronic PAN – a move that will reduce the time required for getting the tax identification number. The revised time might be down to just four hours. The allotment is supposed to start within one year.

4.    Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra on Tuesday said the forms might soon come pre-filled. “Under a simplified return format, returns with declared incomes up to Rs 5 million would be a single-page document. It would hardly take time to fill up,” he said.