Unlinked PAN Cards would stop functioning from 1st July 2023

[Vivek Jalan]

Every person who has been allotted a PAN as of 1st July 2017 and is eligible to obtain an Aadhaar Number, is required to intimate his Aadhaar to the prescribed authority.

The CBDT has extended the Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline from March 31 to June 30, 2023, by three months, and announced that all unlinked PAN cards will stop functioning as of July 1, 2023. Consequently, TDS and TCS shall be deducted/collected at higher rate, as provided in the Act; No refund shall be made against such PANs; Interest shall not be payable on such refund for the period during which PAN remains inoperative.

The mandatory linking of Aadhaar with PAN does not apply to four categories.

1) Residents of the states of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya.

2) Non-resident Indians (NRIs) as per the Income-tax Act, 1961.

3) Anyone who was of the age 80 years or more at any time during the previous year.

4) Individuals who are not a citizen of India.

It is thus advised to not wait for 30th June 2023 and link the PAN and Aadhar immediately through a simple OTP and online process. Even the above persons not required to link PAN and Aadhar mandatorily, are advised to do so to get future benefits through integrated Government Database.