PAN-Aadhaar Linking Deadline Expires, I-T Dept Issues Last-Minute Clarification On Linking Requests

The income tax department on Friday said that it will give due consideration to cases where individuals have not yet linked their PAN with Aadhaar, despite giving consent and paying the fee.

The deadline to link the Permanent Account Number (PAN) with the Aadhaar has passed. Unlike previous instances where the government extended the deadline, this time there has been no such extension. Consequently, individuals who have not yet linked their PAN with their Aadhaar will face the consequence of their PAN becoming inoperative starting today, July 1, 2023. However, the income tax department has issued a last-minute clarification. 

The income tax department on Friday said that it will give due consideration to cases where individuals have not yet linked their PAN with Aadhaar, despite giving consent and paying the fee.

The income tax department acknowledged that some PAN holders have faced difficulties in downloading the challan for Aadhaar-PAN linking after making the fee payment.

"Instances have come to notice where PAN holders have faced difficulty in downloading the challan after payment of fee for Aadhaar-PAN linking. In this regard, it is to be informed that status of challan payment may be checked in ‘e-pay tax’ tab of portal after login. If a payment is successful, then PAN holder can proceed to link PAN with Aadhaar," the I-T department said in a tweet. 

"As soon as the PAN holder completes the payment successfully, an email with an attached copy of the challan is already being sent to the PAN holder. In cases where fee payment & consent for linking have been received, but linking has not been done till June 30, 2023, such cases will be duly considered by the Department," the tax department further added. 

The deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar by paying a late fee of Rs 1,000 was June 30, 2023. Starting July 1, 2023, PAN will become inoperative for individuals who have failed to link it with Aadhaar, resulting in higher rates of TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) and TCS (Tax Collected at Source).

In the event that PAN becomes inoperative, individuals will no longer be able to access certain services that require the mandatory use of PAN. Additionally, if an individual has not yet filed their income tax return (ITR), they can only do so after linking their PAN with Aadhaar. The government has not released any statement regarding an extension of the PAN-Aadhaar linking deadline.