PAN-Aadhaar linking deadline extended till June 30, 2023: CBDT

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the last date to link Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar to June 30, 2023. In a press release released on March 28, 2023, CBDT said, “In order to provide some more time to the taxpayers, the date for linking PAN and Aadhaar has been extended to 30th June 2023, whereby persons can intimate their Aadhaar to the prescribed authority for Aadhaar-PAN linking without facing repercussions.”

CBDT has extended the deadline to link PAN with Aadhaar for the fifth time. “Notification to this effect is being issued separately,” it further added.;

Who has to link PAN with Aadhaar?
“Under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961(the ‘Act’) every person who has been allotted a PAN as of 1st July 2017 and is eligible to obtain an Aadhaar Number, is required to intimate his Aadhaar to the prescribed authority on or before 31st March 2023, on payment of a prescribed fee,” said CBDT.

“Failure to do so shall attract certain repercussions under the Act w.e.f. 1st April 2023. The date for intimating Aadhaar to the prescribed authority for the purpose of linking PAN and Aadhaar has now been extended to 30th June 2023,” it added.

What happens if you fail to link your Aadhaar with your PAN by June 30, 2023?
“From 1st July 2023, the PAN of taxpayers who have failed to intimate their Aadhaar, as required, shall become inoperative,” CBDT said.

The consequences during the period that PAN remains inoperative will be as follows:
i) No refund will be made against such PANs
ii) Interest will not be payable on such refund for the period during which PAN remains inoperative
iii) TDS and TCS shall be deducted /collected at the higher rate, as provided in the Income-tax Act, 1961.

Pay Rs 1,000 fine to link PAN with Aadhaar
If PAN becomes inoperative, individuals need to pay a nominal penalty of Rs 1,000 to link it with Aadhaar. “The PAN can be made operative again in 30 days, upon intimation of Aadhaar to the prescribed authority after payment of fee of Rs 1,000,” said CBDT.

Aadhaar-PAN linking is not mandatory for these people
The mandatory linking of Aadhaar with PAN does not apply to four categories.
1) Residents of the states of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya.
2) Non-resident Indians (NRIs) as per the Income-tax Act, 1961.
3) Anyone who was of the age of 80 years or more at any time during the previous year.
4) Individuals who are not a citizen of India.

Those who fall in any of the above categories, do not have to link their PAN with their Aadhaar by the deadline. However, if they want, they can voluntarily link the two documents. For other individuals, it is mandatory to link their Aadhaar with their PAN by the June 30 deadline.

More than 51 crore PANs have already been linked with Aadhaar to date, said CBDT.