PAN-Aadhaar Linking: Find out what happens if you miss March 31 deadline

The deadline of March 31, 2023, was issued by the CBDT in March last year through a circular which said that failing to comply would lead to the discontinuation of the PAN.

The apex body for direct tax matters, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), has mandated all taxpayers to link their Aadhaar with their permanent account number (PAN) by March 31, 2023. As per Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act 1961, every person eligible to obtain an Aadhaar and has PAN must link their Aadhaar with their PAN by the end of this fiscal.

If you fail to link your Aadhaar with your PAN by March 31, 2023, your 10-digit unique alphanumeric number will become inoperative.

Taxpayers who have not yet linked their Aadhaar with their PAN can do so by paying a late fee of Rs 1,000, as the deadline for linking without penalty was June 30, 2022.

In addition to the tax department, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the capital market regulator, has also mandated the linking of Aadhaar with PAN. Over  48 crore individual PANs, out of the total 61 crore issued till now, have been linked with Aadhaar till date, as per the latest available data.

Let us first try to understand the government's rationale behind the move and what you stand to lose if you fail to link your Aadhaar with your PAN by the end of this month.

Why link Aadhaar with PAN?

The compulsory linking of PAN cards and Aadhaar cards was instructed primarily to reduce the incidence of duplicate PAN cards, which paves way for inaccurate calculation and collection of taxes.

Multiple PAN cards for the same person make it difficult for the authorities to track tax evasion. Therefore, the govt has taken the steps to improve compliance and reduce tax evasion in the country.

Aadhaar-PAN: What happens if you don't link your  by 31st March

-Your PAN will become inoperative until linked with your Aadhaar.
-TDS/TCS deduction will attract a higher rate applicable to PAN not present.
-Investors will not be able to carry out any transactions in NSE or BSE.-You will not be able to perform many banking services, including:
Booking a Fixed Deposit above Rs. 50,000.
Depositing cash above Rs. 50,000.
Obtaining a new Debit/Credit Card.
Investing or redeeming your Mutual Funds.
Purchasing any foreign currency beyond Rs 50,000.

If you need to link your PAN and Aadhaar online, follow these steps

-Go to the Income Tax e-Filing portal at incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.
-Click on the "Link Aadhaar" option.
- Fill in your PAN, Aadhaar number, and name as per Aadhaar in the required fields.
- Verify the details and submit the form.
- Once the linking is successful, a confirmation message will appear on the screen, and you will receive an OTP on your registered mobile number.

How to check the status if your PAN and Aadhaar are already linked

Step 1: Go to the Income Tax e-Filing portal at incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in, under Quick Links click Link Aadhaar Status.

Step 2: Enter your PAN and Aadhaar Number, and click View Link Aadhaar Status. On successful Validation, a message will be displayed regarding your Link Aadhaar Status.

PAN Aadhaar link date: Who is exempted

As per the 2017 notification issued by the CBDT, the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with PAN does not apply to certain individuals who do not possess an Aadhaar number or an Enrollment ID. This includes individuals who are residing in the states of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya, as well as non-residents as per the Income Tax Act 1961.

Additionally, individuals who are of the age of eighty years or more at any time during the previous year, and those who are not citizens of India are also exempt from this requirement.