PAN card holders alert! Over 17 cr PAN cards can become inoperative after this date

Over 17 crore PAN cards across the country can become inoperative, if the card holders don't pay attention to an official note. Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur had recently told the Lok Sabha that 17.58 crore PAN card holders are yet to link their PAN cards with Aadhaar cards. He said that as many as 30.75 crore PANs were linked to Aadhaar till January. The deadline to link the two documents was extended for the eighth time to March 31, 2020.

Thakur believes that this decision will help PAN card holders get extra time to link their PAN cards with Aadhaar cards. "The extension of due date for linking of PAN with Aadhaar will benefit these PAN holders as they will get extra time to link their PANs with Aadhaar," Thakur said.

However, what happens if you fail to? According to an amendment in the Finance Bill, 2019, the income tax department has the authority to make such PAN cards which are not linked to Aadhaar inoperative. So, at this moment, we are looking at over 17 crore PAN cards than can become inoperative after March 31, 2020.

"If a person fails to intimate the Aadhaar number, the permanent account number allotted to such person shall be made inoperative after the notified date in the manner as may be provided by rules," Clause 41 of Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act says.

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The amendment came into effect from September 1, 2019.

How to link PAN card with Aadhaar card?

1. Go to the official website of the income tax department.

2. Click on 'Link Aadhaar' section on the left.

3. Enter your name, PAN number and Aadhaar number.

4. Your details like name, date of birth and gender will be validated.

5. After this, the PAN card will be linked with Aadhaar card.