On 15 May 2015, the Department of Commercial Tax, Government of Madhya Pradesh, issued Notification No. F-A-3-24-2015-I-IV-(23) while exercising powers conferred under Section 71 of the Madhya Pradesh VAT Act, 2002. By way of this Notification, new provisions have been introduced in the Madhya Pradesh VAT Rules, 2006. Salient features of the amendments are here below:

1. A businessman intending Registration Certificate under the Madhya Pradesh VAT Act, 2002, is under obligation to furnish the self-attested copy of his Permanent Account Number i.e. PAN, issued under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
2. Likewise, if the Department of the State or Central Government wants to obtain Registration Certificate under the Madhya Pradesh VAT Act, 2002, the same is also required to file self-attested copy of its Tax Deduction and Collection Account number i.e. TAN.
3. Further, Dealers who have obtained Registration Certificate at an early point of time, are also required to file self-attested copies of their PAN.

The amendments are anticipated to help the Commercial Tax Department to also cross-check Books of Accounts of old Dealers.

If Departmental Authorities seek to requisite certain information from the Income Tax Authorities, then the details of PAN will be the basic requirement. This is alarming for those who do not show real business transactions in there VAT Returns.