Aadhaar Card PAN Card Linking: Last Date Approaches, What Will Happen to Those Who Don’t Link the Two?

The last date for Aadhaar card PAN card linking is 31 March 2021, and citizens need to go through with the process to avoid penalties. While the deadline to link the PAN with Aadhaar has been postponed earlier several times due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the likelihood of that happening again seems to be low at the moment. This is because, the Government of India passed the Finance Bill 2021 in the Lok Sabha, in which a new clause has been introduced under which a person is liable to be prosecuted if they don’t link their PAN with Aadhaar card.

Why Aadhaar Card PAN Card Linking Needs to be Done

According to the newly introduced clause in the Finance Bill 2021, 234H, a person can be fined up to Rs 1000 for not linking their PAN and Aadhaar. “Without prejudice to the provisions of this Act, where a person is required to intimate his Aadhaar number under sub-section (2) of section 139AA and such person fails to do so on or before such date, as may be prescribed, he shall be liable to such fee, as may be prescribed, not exceeding one thousand rupees, at the time of making intimation under sub-section (2) of section 139AA after the said date,” says the clause. Furthermore, PAN cards that are not linked with Aadhaar may be rendered inactive after the deadline.

How to Link Aadhaar and PAN Card

• Visit the Income Tax e-filing portal: https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/
• After registering on the portal, the user’s PAN will be their User ID.
• Users can then log in by entering the User ID, password and date of birth.
• A pop-up window will then appear, prompting to link PAN with Aadhaar. If not, users can go to ‘Profile Settings’ on the Menu bar and click on ‘Link Aadhaar’.
• All the details mentioned on the PAN will appear on the screen. Details on the PAN will have to match with details of other, failing which users will have to get the same corrected in either of their documents.
• If the details match, Aadhaar number will have to be entered and users will then have to click on the “link now” button.
• After that, a pop-up message saying Aadhaar has been successfully linked to PAN will be displayed.