Alert! Your PAN card can become inoperative after June 30! Do this now

Millions of PAN cards face the danger of becoming inoperative after June 30 if holders fail to link them with their Aadhaar cards. The initial deadline to complete the process was March 31, 2020. However, Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman had announced an extension till June 30, in the wake of nationwide lockdown due to coronavirus. Also, having an Aadhaar card is mandatory to get a new PAN card.

What happens if you don’t link Aadhaar card with PAN card?

The current income tax laws state that if you fail to link Aadhaar card with PAN card, the latter will become 'inoperative'. The income tax department had earlier announced that any PAN that is not linked will be declared as "inoperative." Now, in its latest notification, the IT department has clearly mentioned that such PAN cardholders shall face consequences under the Income Tax Act.

What could be the consequences? 

Simply speaking, you won’t be able to use your PAN card from July 1 onwards. This means that it can assumed that you failed to furnish the document and a penalty of Rs 10,000 may apply as per Section 272B of the Income Tax Act. 

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However, the transactions done in the past using it will remain valid. Once you link both the numbers after the specified deadline, your PAN should become active. In case you have not yet filed your ITR, you will not be able to file it after the deadline is gone.

How to link Aadhaar card with PAN card -

To check whether your PAN card is already linked with the Aadhaar card, log on to the official website of the income tax department - incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.

To link the two, you need to click on 'Link Aadhaar' option on the website. You will be redirected to a new page where you need to fill all information like your PAN Card number, Aadhaar number and your name. In the case of a change in name between Aadhaar and PAN, one has to fill the name whichever is correct.

If you are unable to link your PAN with Aadhaar by logging in at the income tax website, you can do this through a simple SMS as well. You just need to send SMS on 567678 or 56161. Format of the SMS is UIDPAN<SPACE><12 digit Aadhaar><SPACE><10 digit PAN>. There is no charge being levied on the SMS sender by NSDL or UTI. T

However, you will have to pay the SMS charges being levied by the mobile operator company.