CBDT issues clarification on PAN-Aadhaar linking
June 30, 2023
Synopsis
The income tax department has issued a clarification on PAN-Aadhaar linking for those who have paid the penalty but have not linked the same on or before June 30, 2023. It is important to note that the last date to link PAN with Aadhaar is June 30, 2023. PAN will become inoperative if not linked.
The income tax department, on its official Twitter handle, has issued a clarification on PAN-Aadhaar linking for those individuals who are facing difficulties in linking the same. The clarification has come just a few hours before the expiry of the deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar. The last date to link PAN with Aadhaar is June 30, 2023.
As per the tweet of the income tax department, individuals who have paid their penalty for linking PAN with Aadhaar and consent has been received but linking is not done till June 30, 2023, then such cases will be considered by the income tax department before making the PAN inoperative. It is important to note that if PAN is not linked by Aadhaar by June 30, 2023, then PAN will become inoperative. This would mean that an individual will not have a valid PAN wherever quoting of same is mandatory.
“Kind Attention PAN holders! 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. 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” said the tweet of the income tax department.
— IncomeTaxIndia (@IncomeTaxIndia)
The income tax law to link PAN with Aadhaar came into effect from July 1, 2017. Since then the deadline to link PAN with Aadhaar has been extended many times. Further, in Budget 2021, the government added Section 234H to introduce penalty for linking PAN with Aadhaar after the deadline. Till March 31, 2022, there was no penalty amount to link the same. However, two-tier structure of penalty was imposed from April 1, 2022. As per Section 234H, a penalty of Rs 500 was to be levied if the PAN is linked to the Aadhaar between April 1, 2022 and June, 2022. However, if the PAN is linked to the Aadhaar on or after July 1, 2022, then a penalty of Rs 1,000 will be levied for linking PAN with Aadhaar.
Earlier, the last date to link PAN with Aadhaar was March 31, 2023. However, this deadline was extended by the income tax department by three months till June 30, 2023. The income tax department is yet to announce whether this deadline will be extended again or not.
Do note that if the PAN is not linked with Aadhaar by June 30, 2023, then PAN will become inoperative. Once the PAN becomes inoperative, some of the consequences will be non-processing of income tax refunds, higher TDS and TCS on incomes and expenditures, not being able to invest in bank FDs, mutual fund schemes etc.
[The Economic Times]
