Here is Why You Need to Link Aadhaar With PAN Before 31st March 2020

In its latest notification, the Income Tax department has said that if PAN card is not linked with Aadhaar by March 31, your PAN card will become inoperative.

As per the IT department, over 30.75 crore PAN had been linked to Aadhaar as on January 27 and nearly 17.58 crore are yet to be linked.

IT department has set March 31 as the deadline to link PAN and Aadhaar after extending the deadline eight times.

"Where a person, who has been allotted the permanent account number as on July1, 2017 and is required to intimate his Aadhaar number under sub-section (2) of section 139AA, has failed to intimate the same on or before March 31, 2020, the permanent account number of such person shall become inoperative immediately after the said date for the purposes of furnishing, intimating or quoting under the Act," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said.

Through a notification, the CBDT amended Income Tax rules and inserted Rule 114AAA, stipulating the "manner of making permanent account number inoperative."

The notification further said that persons whose PANs become inoperative shall be liable for all the consequences under the I-T Act for not furnishing, intimating or quoting the permanent account number.

For those linking PAN with Aadhaar after March 31, 2020, the I-T department said it shall "become operative from the date of intimation of Aadhaar number".

Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act says that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities.

If you already possess a PAN card, it is mandatory to link it by March 31 after which it will become inoperative. The linking can be done on IT department's e-filing portal or by SMS and you can check the status online.

If you are a new PAN card applicant, it is mandatory to mention your Aadhaar number in the application form and the interlinking will be done automatically when you apply.

If you donot link your Aadhaar and PAN before the deadline, then you may not be able to do at least 18 financial transactions that require either of the two. These transactions include purchase and sale of vehicle or properties, applying for debit/credit cards, opening bank accounts to name a few.

Moreover, you will also not be able to file income tax returns for the financial year and you cannot use it as a valid ID proof if the two are not linked.

The Supreme Court had in September 2018 declared Aadhaar as constitutionally valid and held that the biometric ID would remain mandatory for the filing of income tax returns and allotment of PAN cards.

Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India, or UIDAI, to a resident of India and PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted by the income tax department to a person, firm or entity.