A couple of problems now awaits those who have not linked their Aadhaar card with their pan card. The income tax department had earlier announced that all unlinked PAN cards will be declared as “inoperative” and now, it has issued a new notification saying that such Permanent Account Holders cardholders shall face consequences under the Income Tax Act for not furnishing PAN. As per the notification, If one fails to link your PAN card with Aadhaar card within the deadline of March 31, then the income tax department might impose a penalty of ₹10,000 on you for using an inoperative Permanent Account Number.
The Supreme Court of India in 2018 had declared Aadhaar as constitutionally valid and held that the biometric ID would remain mandatory for the filing of income tax returns and allotment of PAN cards.
Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act says that every person having Permanent Account Number as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities.
TaxScan had earlier reported about the Gujarat High Court order where the court had held that the permanent account number cannot be declared inoperative due to the non-linking of Aadhaar or Aadhaar number. This notification is now prima facie in violation of the said judgment.
Guide to link PAN with Aadhaar:
There are two ways to link your PAN card to your Aadhaar card: through SMS and/or through the IT department website.
Send this message — UIDPAN <space> <12-digit-Aadhaar no.> <space> <Alphanumeric 10-digit PAN number> — either to 567678 or 56161.
Step 1: Visit the Income Tax Department e-filing portal – incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
Step 2: Go to ‘Link Aadhaar’ option on the left side of the homepage
Step 3: Enter your Permanent Account Number, Aadhaar numbers and your name as per AADHAAR
Step 4: Mark ‘I have the only year of birth in Aadhaar card,’ if you have only the birth year on the Aadhaar
Step 5: Mark ‘I agree to validate my Aadhar details with UIDAI,’ if you agree to do so
Step 6: Enter the captcha code on your screen
Step 7: Click on ‘Link Aadhaar’ option to request linking of PAN and Aadhaar
