The income tax department can impose a penalty amount of ₹10,000 on a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card holder for using an inoperative Permanent Account Number, if they fail to link the PAN with an Aadhaar card by the deadline of March 31.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes had earlier announced through a February 13, 2020 notification that all unlinked PAN cards by March 31 will be declared as “inoperative.” However, the new notification issued by the income tax department said that such PAN card holders shall face the consequences under the Income Tax Act for not furnishing PAN.
In section 272B of the Income Tax Act, when a PAN becomes inoperative, it is assumed that PAN has not been furnished or quoted as required by the law and a penalty amount of Rs 10,000 may apply if used for a monetary transaction like withdrawing cash above ₹50,000.
How to link PAN, Aadhaar cards?
For registered user
The linking process is quick and easy, which can be done online in a few minutes. The registered income tax users can visit the Income Tax Department website. And can ‘Link Aadhar’ under profile setting option after logging in.
The form then asks for the PAN number and the Aadhar Number. After the user submits the details to link PAN and Aadhaar card, the income tax department fetches details from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to validate the demographic details against the Aadhaar card.
How to link PAN, Aadhaar cards?
For registered user
The linking process is quick and easy, which can be done online in a few minutes. The registered income tax users can visit the Income Tax Department website. And can ‘Link Aadhar’ under profile setting option after logging in.
The form then asks for the PAN number and the Aadhar Number. After the user submits the details to link PAN and Aadhaar card, the income tax department fetches details from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to validate the demographic details against the Aadhaar card.
It is advised to cross-check the entered details to avoid any mismatch of details before clicking on the ‘link now’ button. If your details on UIDAI Aadhaar platform and PAN are not exactly the same, the request will be rejected. However, if the details match, you will receive a pop-up message saying — “Aadhaar-PAN linking is completed successfully.”
For non-registered users
If you are not a registered income tax user, you can still visit the Income-tax department website and click on ‘Link Aadhar’ given on the right-hand sidebar of the website.
It then takes you to a page which asks for PAN, Aadhar details and allows you to link it with the help of an OTP.
However, If you miss linking PAN and Aadhaar you need not reapply for a new PAN card as once the linking is done on the Income Tax website, the PAN automatically becomes valid again.
