“In addition to the above, the taxpayer might face difficulty at various other fora like banks and other financial portals as PAN is one of the important KYC (know your customer) criterion for all kinds of financial transaction,” the circular said
New Delhi:
The Income Tax department Saturday issued an advisory that those permanent account numbers (PAN) which are not linked with Aadhaar by the end of March next year will be rendered “inoperative”.
“What is mandatory, is necessary. Don’t delay, link it today!” the department said in a public advisory.
“As per Income-tax Act, 1961, it is mandatory for all PAN holders, who do not fall under the exempt category, to link their PAN with Aadhaar before 31.3.2023. From 1.04.2023, the unlinked PAN shall become inoperative,” it said.
The ‘exempt category’, according to a notification issued by the Union Finance Ministry in May 2017, are those individuals residing in the states of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya; a non-resident as per the Income-tax Act, 1961; of the age of 80 years or more at any time during the previous year and a person not a citizen of India.
A circular issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on March 30 said once a PAN becomes inoperative, an individual shall be liable to all the consequences under the I-T Act and will have to suffer a number of implications.
The person shall not be able to file I-T return using the inoperative PAN; pending returns will not be processed; pending refunds cannot be issued to inoperative PANs; pending proceedings as in the case of defective returns cannot be completed once the PAN is inoperative and tax will be required to be deducted at a higher rate.
“In addition to the above, the taxpayer might face difficulty at various other fora like banks and other financial portals as PAN is one of the important KYC (know your customer) criterion for all kinds of financial transaction,” the circular said.
UIDAI urges Aadhaar card holders to update documents submitted 10 years ago
Meanwhile, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has urged Aadhaar holders who were issued the unique identity 10 years back and who have never updated their records, to revise their information in its database.
Aadhaar holders can update their unique ID records by uploading supportive documents (proof of identity and proof of address) either online through myAadhaar portal or offline by visiting the nearest Aadhaar centre, UIDAI said in statement.
“Residents who had got their Aadhaar issued 10 years back, and have never updated after that in these years, such Aadhaar number holders are encouraged to get their documents updated,” the statement said.
During the past decade, Aadhaar number has emerged as a universally accepted proof of identity of residents in India. More than 1,100 government schemes and programs, including 319 run by the central government, use Aadhaar based identification for delivery of services.
Besides, many financial institutions like banks and NBFCs use Aadhaar to authenticate and onboard customers seamlessly.
“It is in the interest of the residents to keep their Aadhaars updated with current proof of identity and proof of address,” it added.
The UIDAI said keeping the documents updated helps in ease of living, better service delivery, and enables accurate authentication.
“UIDAI has always encouraged residents to keep their documents updated, and the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) (Tenth Amendment) Regulations 2022 notified on November 09, 2022 was another step in that direction.
“The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) once again urges and encourages residents to update their documents for continued accuracy of information in the Aadhaar database,” the statement said.