Deadline for Aadhaar-PAN link nears: What are the benefits of linking these two identity proofs?
- There are a host of benefits when it comes to linking PAN with Aadhaar as these two are important for KYC at opening your bank accounts, they also help in making it easier for filing your income tax returns among others.
The deadline for linking the 12-digit biometric number Aadhaar with the Permanent Account Number (PAN) is nearing. As per the latest guidelines of the Income Tax department, the last date to link these two important identity proofs is scheduled on March 31, 2023. For those who fail to link, their PAN will become inoperative from April 1 of this year.
There are a host of benefits when it comes to linking PAN with Aadhaar as these two are important for KYC at opening your bank accounts, they also help in making it easier for filing your income tax returns among others.
The section 139AA of the Income Tax Act provides that every individual who has been allotted a Permanent Account Number (PAN) as of the 1st day of July 2017, and who is eligible to obtain an Aadhaar number, shall intimate Aadhaar number in the prescribed form and manner. That being said, such persons have to mandatorily link their Aadhaar and PAN before the scheduled deadline.
The deadline for Aadhaar - PAN linking has been extended on many occasions and the latest would be March 31st, 2023.
Abhishek Soni, Co-founder & CEO of Tax2win, a Fisdom company said, "PAN card is accepted as valid identity proof all over India. A PAN card is required for most financial transactions, and the IT department tracks your transaction via it. Aadhar holds all the information of an individual along with their biometric verification."
Aadhaar-PAN linking is required for legal aspects and as per Soni, it provides ample benefits. These are:
For Individuals:
- Aadhaar Card is an important document for all transactions. Linking Aadhaar and PAN provides an audit trail of all transactions to the Income tax department.
- Starting next year, ITR filing will not be allowed until your Aadhaar-PAN is linked.
- Filing ITR will be an easy process as it would eliminate the need for actions like submitting receipts to the IT department or e-signature. These actions will be automatically done using Aadhaar e-verification.
- Aadhaar- PAN linking can help in preventing the cancellation of the latter.
- Through the use of an Aadhaar Card, the requirement for other documents has been reduced to a large extent.
- Aadhaar cards also serve the purpose of identity proof and address proof. It has made this document of great importance for individuals.
For government:
- With the introduction of Aadhaar, tracking transactions has become easier and more effective. Aadhaar-based authentication has become a norm now.
- It is also useful for tracking tax evaders. Aadhaar-PAN linking solved the problem of an individual having multiple PAN cards and reduced the possibility of fraudulent activities.
Earlier, Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline was 31st March 2022, which was extended up to 30th June 2022 with a late fine of ₹500. Soni also said, "the deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar has now been extended to 31 March 2023; people have to pay a penalty fee of ₹1000 to initiate the linking process."
"If individuals with unlinked PAN pass this deadline of 31st March 2023, their PAN will become inoperative or invalid," he added.
Hence, link your PAN with your Aadhaar before March 31st, 2023 to avoid any impact on your permanent account number.
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Business NewsNewsIndiaDeadline for Aadhaar-PAN link nears: What are the benefits of linking these two identity proofs?
First Published:5 Mar 2023, 01:55 PM IST
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