Q169. Tax deduction from rent in India

Question: Dear Sir, I am staying in a company leased accommodation and my Landlord is an NRI. The rent finalised is Rs. 15000 per month. Now, company says that they cannot pay the rent unless and until the Landlord has PAN No. My Landlord have also applied for a PAN No. but he says that it will take couple of months to get the PAN NO. Now, i have 2 questions:

1. Is there any way we can pay the Rent to landlord till such time he does not have a PAN No.
2. Also for NRI, how many days/ months it should take to get a PAN No. Regards. Arunava Saha

Answer: Companies have an obligation to deduct TDS from rent they payout. Hence they need the Pan Number of the landlord so that the TDS deducted can be submitted to the tax authorities. TDS is compulsory if the rental value exceeds Rupees 120,000 yearly. Getting a PAN card should not take more than a month in the majority of cases. There is also a provision where a PAN Number is emailed to you within five days or so if the application for PAN is made online and paid for by credit card. Perhaps you can pay the rent directly after deducting the TDS until the landlord gets a PAN and then you can get reimbursed by your company.