New Delhi: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) recently extended the PAN- Aadhaar linking deadline to March next year to facilitate the taxpayers. However, if you do not link these two important documents soon, you will be liable for a penalty. The government has been motivating citizens to link their Permanent Account Number (PAN) with the 12-digit identification number, Aadhaar since 2017. With effect from April 1, 2017, the government has inserted 139AA in the IT Act, making it mandatory for a taxpayer to quote their Aadhaar in the application form for PAN and return of income.
The decision of the Income Tax department to make PAN – Aadhaar linking compulsory was taken to avoid duplicate or bogus PANs. However, the deadline to link PAN with Aadhaar has been extended on several occasions and now the latest due date is set on March 31, 2023. In order to ensure that taxpayers are giving necessary importance to PAN – Aadhaar linking, the department has announced a host of penalties that can be avoidable or lessened only if the linking is done.
Here’s how much fine will be levied if an individual fails to link PAN with Aadhaar:
On March 30, CBDT introduced a sub-section (2) under section 139AA. Under the new provisions of the sub-section, CBDT directs that a fine of Rs 500 is levied “in case where such intimation is made within three months from the date referred to in sub-section (2) of section 139AA.”
- The new guidelines that have come into effect from April 1, 2022 state that a penalty of Rs 500 is applicable for PAN – Aadhaar linking within three months, i.e. June 30, 2022.
- If failure to do so after June 30, then the penalty has been increased to Rs 1,000 in all other cases.
In another circular on March 31, the CBDT said, “The Finance Act, 2021 inserted a new section 234H in the Act to complete the process of PAN-Aadhaar linking for identifying bogus PANs. This section provides that where a person who is required to intimate his Aadhaar under subsection (2) of section 139 AA fails to do so on or before a notified date, he shall be liable to pay a fee not exceeding a sum of one thousand rupees, as may be prescribed, at the time of making intimation under sub-section (2) of section 139AA after the said date.”
