Foreign Company Registration FAQ

Q: The Principal Contact is a Foreigner/Non-resident and does not have a PAN and hence, not able to register in
the new e-Filing Application. What should be done?

A: As per CBDT guidelines, Foreigners without PAN is allowed to be an authorized signatory and can file on
behalf of the Company/Firm without a PAN encrypted DSC. The assessee Company is required to send an email
to efilinghelpdesk@incometaxindia.gov.in mentioning details such as Name of the Company, PAN of the
Company, Date of Incorporation, Name of the Principal Contact and DOB of the Principal Contact.


Q: While updating the Principal Contact details in the Profile, PAN field is not available. What to do?

A: The possible reason can be that the previous Principal Contact was a Foreigner without a PAN and might
have been added as an exception case in the e-Filing application. To remove this exception, send an email to
efilinghelpdesk@incometaxindia.gov.in mentioning details such as Name of the Company, PAN of the Company,
Date of Incorporation, Name of the Principal Contact, PAN of the Principal Contact and DOB of the Principal
Contact. The exempted details in the e-Filing application will be deleted and the Principal Contact will be able to
register the PAN of the new Principal Contact.

Q:The Principal Contact of my Company/Firm is a foreigner and does not have a PAN. The Principal Contact has
been updated without PAN in the Company/Firm profile of the e-Filing portal. The Digital Signature Certificate
(DSC) of the Principal Contact is with a dummy PAN. When I try to upload/register the DSC, PAN mismatch error
comes up. What to do?

A: Digital Signature Certificate with dummy PAN will not be accepted by the e-Filing application. In case the
Principal Contact has been updated without PAN, Digital Signature Certificate without PAN encryption should be
used. In case the Principal Contact is updated in the profile with a PAN, Digital Signature Certificate with the
same PAN should be used.

Q: In case of our Company/Firm, the Principal Contact is a foreigner/non-resident without a PAN, how should the
XML of the ITR be generated, because of verification in the return requires for a PAN field to be filled up?

A: For filling up the verification field, you may use dummy PAN (FFFPF9999F). It is again clarified, that the
dummy PAN can be used only for the verification field and DSC with dummy PAN will not be accepted