No PAN, No refund on FD earnings

Fixed deposit holders will not be allowed to avail any credit against taxes paid on their interest earnings if banks do not quote their PAN numbers. Many fixed deposit holders could be left in lurch as income tax department has tightened rules on TDS or tax deducted at source. Banks are supposed to cut tax at source for interest income above Rs 10,000. But in 2005-06 less than half of non-salaried income had PAN numbers and in future these will not be eligible for refunds.