IT Dept. releases PAN-Aadhar Linking Status; Know How to Check Status

The Income Tax Department has recently published the PAN-Aadhar linking status of individuals after issuing multiple warnings to the taxpayers.

In India, Aadhar and Permanent Account Number (PAN) have become crucial components of everyday life for the common man, each serving a particular role. The mandatory linkage of Aadhaar with PAN is now being debated, with a March 2023 deadline.

The Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) claimed that around 48 crore PANs given to individuals have already been linked to Aadhaar. The Chairman has also stated that those who do not link their Aadhaar with their PAN will not be eligible for any commercial or tax-related incentives.

Individual PANs that have not been linked to Aadhaar by the end of the financial year (March 31, 2023) would be considered invalid. Moreover, Rs. 1,000 is required to complete the PAN-Aadhaar connecting process by the March 31 deadline.

The circular issued on March 30 clearly stated that once the taxpayer’s PAN card becomes operational, they must bear all of the consequences stated in the Income Tax Act of 1961, such as ending returns not being processed, pending refunds not being made to nonfunctional PANs, faulty return cases not being resolved after the PAN becomes inoperable, and tax being deducted at a higher rate.

According to publicly available data, there are 10,83,82,304 individuals enrolled on the Income Tax Portal. Of the total number of registered persons, 9,40,87,312 have linked their PAN to their Aadhar Number. This indicates that just 86.81% of PAN-Aadhar connection has been done, leaving the remaining 1.42 crore taxpayers vulnerable to additional fees and higher tax rates.

People whose PAN is not connected with Aadhaar may include those for whom PAN-Aadhaar linking is not required, such as inhabitants of J&K, Assam, Meghalaya, and those above the age of 80.

Because PAN is a mandatory KYC (Know Your Customer) requirement for all forms of financial transactions, the taxpayer may have issues at a variety of other sites, including banks and financial portals.

In addition to the aforesaid numbers, the Income Tax Department reported that around 50 million people had their PAN connected with Aadhar but had not completed their registration on the platform.

“As per Income tax Act, 1961, the last day for connecting PAN with Aadhaar is 31.3.2023, for all PAN holders who do not fall under the exempt category, failing which the unlinked PAN shall become inoperative. “Don’t wait, link today!” tweeted the Central Board of Direct Taxes on its official Twitter account.

The tweet further stated that, “All PAN holders, who do not come under the exempt category as per Notification No. 37/2017 dated 17th May 2017 and have not linked their aadhaar with PAN yet, are requested to do so immediately. PAN can be linked with aadhaar on www.incometax.gov.in after paying a fee of Rs. 1,000.”

Those who have not yet linked their PAN to Aadhar can do so as soon as possible by visiting the Income Tax Portal. If you are unsure about your PAN-Aadhar connecting status, go to the official PAN Aadhaar Linking Check website to check. To link and verify the status, you will need your PAN, Aadhar number, and Date of Birth.

Notably, during the 2023 Budget Address, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the Permanent Account Number (PAN) will be used as an uniform identification for all digital systems of specified government institutions, in an effort to further promote ease of doing business in the country.