As per government directive, if PAN has not been linked with Aadhaar by June 30, 2023, it will be tagged as in-operative. As a result, taxpayers might not be able to file income tax returns before July 31, 2023.
All this is because, once the PAN becomes inoperative it will take a maximum of 30 days for it to become active again. In order to make an inoperative PAN operative, the concerned taxpayer will have to pay a fine of Rs 1,000.
Hence, if the taxpayer pays the fine, links PAN with Aadhaar and waits for the PAN to become operative again, then there is high chance of missing the ITR filing deadline of July 31, 2023, and it would be filed as a belated ITR.
Now, taxpayers will have give late fee for filing ITR late. This penalty is Rs 5,000, if the total income exceeds Rs 5 Lakh.
Read More: Government’s DigiLocker To Add Passports, Tax Returns To Its Digital Shelves
Therefore, if your PAN is currently inoperative, you might end up paying a late fee of Rs 5,000 for filing a late ITR. Apart from this, you will have to pay Rs 1,000 for for linking your PAN with Aadhaar. So, in total, you will end up paying Rs 6,000 if you haven’t linked your Aadhaar with PAN card yet.
However, it is to be noted that if the total incoem does not exceed Rs 5 Lakh, then a late filing fee of Rs 1,000 will be applicable for filing belated FIR and Rs 1,000 for linking PAN with Aadhaar.
“If you have any outstanding tax liabilities for the financial year and you file a belated ITR, you may be liable to pay interest on the unpaid tax amount. The interest is calculated from the original due date of filing, i.e. July 31, 2023 until the date of actual payment,” said CA Sandeep Agrawal, Director and Co-founder Teamlease Regtech, a regulatory technology company, to The Economic Times.
Presently the penal interest of 1 per cent under section 234A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 per month or part of the month is charged for delay in filing ITR.
