Those permanent account numbers (PAN) which are not linked with Aadhaar by 31st March 2023 will be rendered “inoperative”, as per the Income Tax department.
While Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India to a resident of India, PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted by the IT Department to a person, firm or entity.
“As per Income-tax Act, 1961, it is mandatory for all PAN holders, who do not fall under the exempt category, to link their PAN with Aadhaar before 31.3.2023. From 1.04.2023, the unlinked PAN shall become inoperative,” the department said in a public advisory.
Income Tax PAN card-Aadhaar card link: Know who is exempted
These are the ‘exempt category’, according to a notification issued by the Union Finance Ministry:
1) Residents of the north-eastern state of Assam, Meghalaya, and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir
2) A non-resident as per the Income Tax Act 1961
3) Individuals aged 80 or more
4) Not an Indian citizen
PAN-Aadhaar link status check
The PAN-Aadhaar link can be done easily online at the comfort of your home in just a few minutes.
For those who have already linked PAN and Aadhaar can verify their status by visiting the Income Tax e-filing website and go to “Link Aadhaar Status” tab.
Once you enter your PAN and Aadhaar Number, you can simply click on ‘View Link Aadhaar Status’. The status of the linking will be displayed in the next screen
In case you have not yet linked your PAN-Aadhaar, kindly do it immediately to avoid making your PAN inoperative from 1st April 2023.
PAN-Aadhaar link: What if you don’t link both by 31st March
1) Your PAN will become inoperative, and the individual shall be liable to all the consequences under the I-T Act and will have to suffer a number of implications.
2) The person shall not be able to file I-T return using the inoperative PAN
3) Pending returns will not be processed
4) Pending refunds cannot be issued to inoperative PANs
5) Pending proceedings as in the case of defective returns cannot be completed once the PAN is inoperative
6) Tax will be required to be deducted at a higher rate
7) The taxpayer might face difficulty at various other fora like banks and other financial portals as PAN is one of the important KYC (know your customer) criteria for all kinds of financial transactions.
