As the deadline to link PAN to aadhaar looms closer on March 31, some frantic taxpayers are resorting to illegitimate means to pass the muster.
There are some reports that suggest that few tax payers holders who have not linked their PAN (Permanent Account Numbers) with Aadhaar (UID) till now are exploring the option of getting a new PAN – something they are officially not entitled to.
To get this done, they would be made to pay a small amount of only 93 (plus GST). By doing so, they hope to avoid paying a penalty of 1,000. And the newly acquired PAN can then be linked to aadhaar without paying
Experts, however, refrain taxpayers from resorting to such means.
“Those who are doing it are perhaps not aware of a penalty of ₹10,000 and may also be sent to jail for possessing two or more PAN cards. Please do not make additional PAN if you are already holding one, you will be liable to pay the additional penalty and may land up in Jail,” said Mumbai based charted accountant Chirag Chauhan.
Meanwhile, a number of citizens have sent formal request to tax department and ministry of finance to extend this deadline further.
Opposition’s member of Parliament (MP) Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also sent a request to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi via a formal letter requesting him to extend the deadline by six months. He also requested him to issue orders to waive off the late fee of ₹1,000.
It is worth noting that the last date to link PAN with Aadhaar was extended from March 31, 2022 to March 31, 2023.
However, there was a catch. It was permissible only by paying a late fee. Those who got these two key documents linked before June 30, 2022 were supposed to pay a fine of ₹500. And those who could get them linked between July 1 to March 31, 2023 can get this done by paying a penalty of ₹1,000.
And subsequently, the PAN cards which fail to get linked to aadhaar on or before March 31 will eventually inoperative from April 1, 2023.
How to link aadhaar to PAN
At the outset, visit the income tax portal and click ‘Link Aadhaar’.
When you click this link, you will see a window asking for your four details: PAN, Aadhaar, name as given in Aadhaar and mobile number. Then you can click ‘link Aadhaar’ to complete the process.
There is another method to link the two documents i.e., via mobile phone.
In this method, taxpayer is meant to send an SMS to 567678 or 56161 from their registered mobile number in the following format:
UIDPAN<SPACE><12 digit Aadhaar><Space><10 digit PAN>
In conclusion, it can be emphasised that taxpayers ought to link both the documents as soon as possible to avoid getting their PAN inoperative from next financial year onwards.
