Form 60 Income Tax Declaration: Transactions, Filing, and Penalties

A Form 60 income tax declaration is a signed statement you give to a bank, registrar, insurer, or other entity when you are entering a transaction that normally requires a Permanent Account Number (PAN) and you do not have one. It records who you are, where you live, and what the transaction is, so the Income Tax Department can still trace the deal back to a real person. As of April 1, 2026, Form 60 has been replaced by Form 97 under the Income Tax Rules, 2026, but the purpose, the triggers, and the paperwork are essentially the same.1Income Tax Department. Form Nos. 97 and 98 (Erstwhile Form Nos. 60 and 61)

What Changed on April 1, 2026

The Income Tax Act, 2025 and the Income Tax Rules, 2026 retired Form 60 (for people without a PAN) and Form 61 (for those with only agricultural income). Form 97 now does the job of Form 60, and Form 98 replaces Form 61. The new version is more structured, with pre-filled fields meant to cut down on manual errors and match digital reporting requirements.1Income Tax Department. Form Nos. 97 and 98 (Erstwhile Form Nos. 60 and 61) Several transaction thresholds were also revised, so older guidance on Form 60 will list some amounts that are no longer accurate.

If a bank or agency still hands you a paper labelled “Form 60,” treat the guidance below as applying to whichever version you receive. Everything in this article reflects the 2026 rules.

Transactions That Require the Declaration

Rule 159 of the Income Tax Rules, 2026 lists every situation where you must quote a PAN or, without one, file the declaration. The thresholds below are the current ones.2Income Tax Department. Rule 159 – Income Tax Department

  • Any application for a credit card, at any amount.
  • Opening a depository or securities account, at any amount.
  • Opening a bank account other than a Basic Savings Bank Deposit Account or a time deposit.
  • Buying or selling a motor vehicle or motorcycle for more than ₹5,00,000. Two-wheelers, once excluded entirely, are now covered above this limit.
  • Any purchase, sale, gift, or joint development agreement for immovable property over ₹20,00,000, or valued above that amount by the stamp valuation authority. The older limit was ₹5,00,000.
  • Contracts for securities (other than shares) over ₹1,00,000 per transaction.
  • Buying or selling unlisted company shares for more than ₹1,00,000 per transaction.
  • Mutual fund payments over ₹50,000.
  • Payments for RBI bonds over ₹50,000.
  • Payments for debentures or bonds over ₹50,000.
  • A single time deposit over ₹50,000, or aggregate time deposits over ₹5,00,000 in a financial year, with a bank, cooperative bank, post office, Nidhi company, or NBFC.
  • Starting an account-based insurance relationship where premiums exceed ₹50,000 in a financial year.
  • Cash deposits totalling ₹10,00,000 or more in a financial year across one or more accounts. The old rule triggered at ₹50,000 in a single day; the new rule looks at the annual total.
  • Cash withdrawals totalling ₹10,00,000 or more in a financial year. This is new; there was no equivalent withdrawal trigger before.
  • Cash payments over ₹1,00,000 at one time to a hotel, restaurant, convention centre, banquet hall, or event management provider.

If you try to complete one of these transactions without a PAN and without the declaration, the entity processing it can refuse to go through with it. That entity is also on the hook for a penalty if it accepts the transaction without proper documentation, which is why bank and registrar staff will not budge on this.

Information You Provide on the Form

The form gathers the identifying details the tax department needs to link the transaction to you personally. You will fill in:

  • Your full name — first, middle, and surname — exactly as it appears on your identity documents.
  • Your date of birth, or date of incorporation for an entity.
  • Your father’s name, if you are an individual.3DBS Bank. Form No. 60 Income-Tax Rules, 1962
  • Your complete residential address: flat, building, street, area, town, district, state, and PIN code.
  • The nature, value, and date of the transaction.
  • Whether you have already applied for a PAN. If yes, the acknowledgment number and date of that application.

The address on the form has to match the address on the identity document you attach. Mismatches are one of the most common reasons banks reject these declarations, and a rejection stops the transaction until you fix it.

Identity Documents You Need to Attach

You attach proof of identity, address, and date of birth. Any of the following, presented in original for verification before a copy is taken, is accepted for individual declarants:4ICICI Prudential. Form No. 97

  • Aadhaar card
  • Bank or post office passbook with photograph
  • Voter photo identity card
  • Ration card with photograph
  • Driving licence
  • Passport
  • Pensioner photo card
  • NREGS job card
  • Kisan passbook with photograph
  • Photo identity card issued by a government body or public sector undertaking
  • Certificate of identity signed by a Member of Parliament, Member of Legislative Assembly, Municipal Councillor, or Gazetted Officer

For a Hindu Undivided Family, any of these documents in the name of the Karta is enough. A government department only needs a certificate from its Head of Department or accounts officer.

Minors, Non-Residents, and Foreign Companies

When the transaction is in a minor’s name, the parent or guardian signs the declaration and provides their own identity and address documents. The minor does not need separate identification.5RBL Bank. Form 60

Non-residents generally cannot use this declaration and are not required to.1Income Tax Department. Form Nos. 97 and 98 (Erstwhile Form Nos. 60 and 61) There is one narrow exception: a foreign company with no taxable income in India that needs to open a bank account or time deposit with a banking unit in an International Financial Services Centre can file the declaration, along with a copy of its incorporation certificate and home-country tax identification number, attested by the IFSC banking unit.4ICICI Prudential. Form No. 97

How Filing Actually Works

You do not file this declaration with the Income Tax Department. You hand the completed form and your documents to whoever is running the transaction: the bank officer opening your account, the sub-registrar recording the property deed, the insurance agent, the dealer selling you the vehicle. That entity checks your signature, verifies your originals against the form, and confirms every mandatory field is filled.

The entity then digitises your declaration and uploads it to the Income Tax Department’s electronic portal, where it becomes part of a searchable record. The physical form is kept for the period the rules prescribe, which means your declaration can be pulled and reviewed years later if any of your past transactions come under scrutiny.

Penalties for Skipping or Lying

Two separate risks sit here. Failing to file when you should is one; filing a declaration you know to be false is the other, and they are treated very differently.

If you should have quoted a PAN or filed the declaration and did not, the Assessing Officer can impose a penalty of ₹10,000 per default. Quoting a PAN number you know to be false carries the same ₹10,000 penalty. The entity that accepts the transaction without proper documentation faces ₹10,000 per failure on its own side.

Making a false statement in the declaration itself falls under the prosecution provisions of the Income Tax Act, 2025. Where the tax that would have been evaded exceeds ₹25 lakh, the penalty is rigorous imprisonment of six months to seven years plus a fine. In other cases, the range is three months to two years plus a fine. The Income Tax Department cross-references these declarations against other data it holds, so mismatches surface.

Apply for a PAN Once You’ve Filed

The declaration is a stopgap. It gets one transaction done; it does not put you inside the tax system on any lasting basis. The Income Tax Department has run outreach directing people who previously submitted these declarations to apply for a PAN using Form 49A. If you already have a PAN but did not quote it during a transaction, you are expected to give it to the reporting entity within 15 days of being asked.

Every declaration you file adds to a data trail that flags you as active in the financial system without formal tax identification, and that scrutiny compounds over time. A PAN application through the NSDL or UTIITSL portals is straightforward, and once you have the number, you stop needing to go through this process at all.