The last date for linking PAN and Aadhaar has been extended to 30th June 2023 to provide some more time to the taxpayers. PAN can be linked with Aadhaar by accessing the link.
Every person who has been allotted a Permanent Account Number (PAN) by the Income Tax Department as on 1st July 2017 and is eligible to obtain Aadhaar Number, is required to intimate his/her Aadhaar to the tax authority on or before 31st March 2023. The date for intimating Aadhaar for the purpose of linking PAN and Aadhaar has now been extended to 30th June 2023.
From 1st July 2023, the PAN of taxpayers who have failed to intimate their Aadhaar shall become inoperative.
During the period PAN remains inoperative, no refund shall be made against inoperative PANs, interest shall not be payable on such refund for the period during which PAN remains inoperative and TDS and TCS shall be deducted at higher rate.
The PAN can be made operative again in 30 days, upon intimation of Aadhaar to the prescribed authority after payment of fee of Rs.1,000.
Some people are exempted from PAN-Aadhaar linking. The exempted category includes NRIs, those residing in specified States, an individual who is not a citizen of India or individuals aged eighty years or more.
PAN is permanent account number with Income Tax Department. An individual or entity is expected to have only one PAN. All significant financial transactions including bank account operation, property transactions etc require PAN. While Aadhaar is biometric based unique identity issued to persons who are residents of India irrespective of nationality.
Linking of the two uniquely identifies a PAN. Any PAN that is not associated with an Aadhaar is likely to be fake. Linking of PAN with Aadhaar also uniquely identifies financial transactions. This is expected to curb proliferation of black economy and money laundering and help keep tab on terror funding and finances associated with crime, thus may come handy in effective implementation of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
So far, over 51 crore PANs have already been linked with Aadhaar.
As on 30th November 2022, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has issued over 135 crore Aadhaar numbers to the residents of India.
Current population of India is about 140 crores.
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