{"url":"https://lrlabs.ai/t/pan_gate_s397","engine":"deterministic","llm_in_path":false,"id":"pan_gate_s397","question":"What withholding rate applies when the non-resident payee has no PAN?","answer":"s.397(2), Income-tax Act 2025 (old s.206AA): deduction at the higher of the relevant provision's rate, the rates in force, or 20%. But s.397(2)(c)(ii) preserves the Rule 37BC-lineage escape: a non-resident without PAN avoids the penal rate by furnishing the prescribed particulars (TRC, contact details, foreign TIN). Note the trap: the penal floor (20%) numerically equals the s.207(2) rate, but they are different provisions with different surcharge/cess and treaty-comparison logic.","pinpoint":"s.397(2), Income-tax Act 2025","confidence":"settled","as_at":"14 Aug 2026","quote":"tax shall be deducted at the higher of the following rates","quote_string_verified":true,"quote_source":"provision:IN.ITA2025.S397-2"}