Aadhaar-PAN Link: PANs of 10 crore NRIs made inactive? Income Tax Dept responds to false claim
July 11, 2023
PAN-Aadhaar Link Latest News: Even as the last date for Aadhaar-PAN linking has ended, the Income Tax Department continues to receive queries and respond to claims from social media users.
Even as the last date for Aadhaar-PAN linking has ended, the Income Tax Department continues to receive queries and respond to claims from social media users. One such claim the tax department recently received from a Twitter user was related PAN-Aadhaar linking by Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). The user alleged that over 10 crore PANs of NRIs were made “inactive” and their investments and bank balance in India could be “frozen”.
Responding to the user, the Income Tax Department clarified that not-linking Aadhaar with PAN makes a PAN inactive and has several other consequences. However, non-residents who had intimated their NRI status to the Department were already exempted from PAN-Aadhaar linking and their PANs are active and operative.
“It may be noted that non-linking of PAN with Aadhaar makes a PAN inoperative and not inactive, consequences of which have already been specified…The NRIs who had intimated their NRI status to the Department are already exempted from PAN – Aadhaar linking and their PANs are active and operative,” the Income Tax Department tweeted.
The tax department further said that persons, who have not yet intimated their NRI status to the Department, “are requested to kindly contact their Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO), online, with supporting documents (copy of PAN card and copy of passport showing period of residence outside India), so that their status can be updated in the PAN database.”
Responding to another Non-resident user, who said his PAN was inoperative and wanted to make it operative again, the tax department said, “Please write to us with your/ taxpayer’s details, along with colour-scanned copy of PAN and copy of documents in support of non-resident status (passport showing period of residence outside India) via email at
Our team will look into it.”
Meanwhile, the last date to link PAN with Aadhaar by paying Rs 1000 as a late fee ended on June 30. For users, who had paid fees but failed to link, the tax department said such cases will be duly considered.
“Instances have come to notice where PAN holders have faced difficulty in downloading the challan after payment of fee for Aadhaar-PAN linking. In this regard, it is to be informed that status of challan payment may be checked in ‘e-pay tax’ tab of portal after login. If a payment is successful, then PAN holder can proceed to link PAN with Aadhaar,” the Income Tax Department tweeted on June 30.
“There is no need of downloading of the challan receipt for linking PAN with Aadhaar. Further, as soon as the PAN holder completes the payment successfully, an email with an attached copy of the challan is already being sent to the PAN holder. In cases where fee payment & consent for linking have been received, but linking has not been done till 30.06.2023, such cases will be duly considered by the Department,” it added.
[The Financial Express]
