The Income Tax Department has announced that Forms 60 and 61 have been now replaced by new Forms 97 and 98. The changes are part of the broader reforms under the newly implemented Income Tax Act of 2025, which came into effect from April 1.
As part of the rules, many existing old, complicated forms have been replaced by new simplified forms to ease compliance burden on taxpayers. Form 60 and 61, earlier used to declare high-value transactions, have also been simplified under the new norms and replaced.
“Old forms 60 and 61 have been replaced with new forms 97 and 98. Form 97 – Filed by persons not possessing PAN and entering into specified transactions. Form 98 – Filed by persons receiving Form 97 declarations,” the I-T department clarified in an X post.
When To Fill Form 97:
The I-T department has outlined a detailed guideline sharing the list of occasions when filling Form 97 is mandatory for compliance. Form 97 is used by persons who are not possessing PAN and entering into specified transactions. For certain transactions, the IT department has made the requirement of PAN card necessary, thereby eliminating the need to fill Form 97.
With this move, the department expects the requirement to file Form 97 to drop significantly, reducing the number of filings from around 12.5 crore to below two crore annually. For instance, sale of purchase of motor vehicles above Rs 5 lakh now require mandatory PAN details.
As a result, filing Form 97 is not allowed for this transaction. Similarly, application for credit card, opening a demat account, purchasing bonds from the RBI above Rs 50,000, purchasing mutual funds above Rs 50,000, among other things now necessarily require a PAN card to execute transactions.
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Instances where PAN is not mandatory and Form 97 can be used include: Payment made during any event management to a hotel or restaurant exceeding Rs 1 lakh, opening a new bank account, sale of purchase of property worth over Rs 20 lakh, sale or purchase of unlisted shares above Rs 1 lakh, etc.
When To Fill 98:
According to the rules, Form 98 needs to be filed by persons who receive Form 97 declarations, ensuring proper reporting and compliance with updated rules.
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The I-T department explained that it applies to: "All persons (subject to conditions prescribed for certain transactions), who receive Form No. 97 declarations from the persons undertaking any transaction specified in rule 159 of the Income-tax Rules, 2026.”
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