The last date for linking permanent account number (PAN ) with Aadhaar card is March 31, 2022. The government through a notification issued on March 29 has brought in Income-tax (Third Amendment) Rules, 2022 to be effective from the 1st day of April, 2022. The rules makes it clear for every person to link Aadhaar number with PAN number, failing which one will be liable to pay a fine.
“It is now mandatory to link the Aadhaar number with PAN to complete income-tax-related tasks such as filing returns on income. This move has been made by the government after its come to their notice that fake PAN numbers are being used.
According to the notification, where a person fails to link his Aadhar with his PAN by 31 March 2022, the person will be liable to pay a late fees upto Rs 1,000 and further, the existing PAN number will become inoperative,” says Neeraj Agarwala, Partner, Nangia Andersen LLP
As per the notiofiocation – “Every person who, in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 139AA, is required to intimate his Aadhaar number to the prescribed authority in the prescribed form and manner, fails to do so by the date referred to in the said sub-section, shall, at the time of subsequent intimation of his Aadhaar number to the prescribed authority, be liable to pay, by way of fee, an amount equal to, —
(a) five hundred rupees, in a case where such intimation is made within three months from the date referred to in sub-section (2) of section 139AA; and
(b) one thousand rupees, in all other cases.”
If you already have the PAN card and are eligible to obtain Aadhaar number or you have already acquired one, then you are required to intimate the Aadhaar number to the Income Tax Department.
Your PAN Aadhaar linking needs to be completed, else the PAN will become ‘inoperative’.
Once the PAN becomes inoperative, one will not be able to undergo several transactions where PAN is required to be quoted mandatorily. The Income Tax Department has specified 18 financial transactions where quoting of PAN is mandatory by an individual. In such cases, the transactions could be carried out only when the PAN and Aadhaar are linked, thus making the PAN re-active.
How to link Aadhaar with the PAN card
To link Aadhaar with the PAN card, one may go to the e-filing website of the Income Tax Department. One may use log-in credentials or even without logging, the linking of Aadhaar and PAN can be done. The Income Tax Department has made it clear that for filing of ITR, Aadhaar and PAN linkage is mandatory unless specifically exempted.