The 2023-24 Union Budget has legalised the Permanent Account Number (PAN) as a single business identifier. The Finance Act 2023 has an empowering clause or clause that will provide legal support for PAN to be used as the principal identity of an entity.

The move is to allow businesses to use the PAN instead of other data as a unique identifier to enter the national single window system to seek different licenses and approvals from central and national authorities.

A PAN is a 10-digit unique alphanumeric number issued by the Income Tax Department. PAN enables the IT department to identify/link all transactions of the PAN holder with the department.

There are more than 13 different business IDs, including EPFO, ESIC, GSTN, TIN, TAN and PAN, which are used to apply for various government approvals.

The report further added that this would apply to all approved businesses.

The new regulations will help investors save a lot of effort as they will no longer need to fill in multiple identification details. There are 20 different IDs, including GSTIN, TIN and EPFO, used to access the National Single Window System (NSWS) for project-related permits and approvals.

The move aims to simplify starting and operating a business and reduce the compliance burden on businesses.