Pan-Aadhaar Linking: The Central Board of Direct taxes, or CBDT, has made it mandatory to link an individual’s Permanent Account Number, or PAN, with his or her Aadhaar number. It reaffirmed through a notification around two years back that a citizen’s PAN, if not linked with Aadhaar within the deadline, will become inoperative — a move that will have several consequences. Currently, the deadline to link PAN with Aadhaar is March 31. The CBDT has also made it clear that those who will link their PAN with Aadhaar after the deadline, the PAN will “become operative from the date of intimation of Aadhaar number”.
The last date to link PAN with Aadhaar has been updated many times. The CBDT had last reaffirmed of the consequences in February 2020, but subsequently extended the deadline to March 31, 2022. “The Central Government, in continuation of its commitment to address the hardship being faced by various stakeholders on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, has, on consideration of representations received from various stakeholders, decided to extend timelines for compliances under the Income-tax Act,” said the CBDT in a notification.
Describing the cases to which this implementation is applicable and elaborating on the extension of the deadline, the government entity said, “Time limit for intimation of Aadhaar number to the Income tax Department for linking of PAN with Aadhaar has been extended from 30th September, 2021 to 31st March, 2022.”
If you still do not link your PAN with Aadhaar after the expiry of the deadline, your PAN will become inoperative and you will face several consequences. For one, the government has added 234H- a new section under the Income Tax Act, 1961. This enables the authorities to levy a penalty on the individual if the work is not done within the due date. However, this penalty cannot go beyond Rs 1,000, the CBDT has clarified.
Further, an individual whose PAN is not linked with Aadhaar, will not be able to conduct any financial transaction using this document. It must be noted that quoting your PAN is necessary for many financial transactions, and thus if it becomes inoperative the transactions cannot be completed. For example, you will not be able to open a bank account and buy or sell properties if you have an inoperative PAN.
If you link your PAN and Aadhaar after the due date, the government is eligible to levy a fine on the process at the time of linking, the CBDT has said. This is why, it is advisable to link PAN Aadhar before March 31, 2022.
There are two ways in which you can link your PAN with your Aadhaar card. One way is to do it via SMS and the other is to do it through the Income-Tax Department’s official portal.
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.
For all the latest business News Click Here
