Link PAN-Aadhaar today to avoid paying penalty of Rs 1,000 tomorrow
Today, i.e., March 31, 2021, is the last date to link PAN with Aadhaar. If you do not link your PAN with your Aadhaar number by the end of the day today, it will cost you. Not only will your PAN become inoperative, but you will also have to shell out a penalty amount of up to Rs 1,000 if you link the two any day on or after April 1. This is as per a new section 234H added to the Income-tax Act, 1961, by the government at the time of passing of the Finance Act, 2021 in the lower house of the Parliament on March 23, 2021.
As per section 234H, if an individual having PAN and Aadhaar does not link the same before the notified due date (currently March 31, 2021), then linking the same after the expiry of the due date will invite a fee. Do keep in mind that the government is yet to prescribe the actual fee that will be levied on linking of PAN and Aadhaar after the expiry of the due date, however, the maximum amount cannot exceed Rs 1,000.
The new law will come into effect from April 1, 2021. Therefore, unless the government extends the deadline, if your PAN is not linked with your Aadhaar number by today, then tomorrow you will be liable to pay a penalty for linking the same.
Earlier, there was no provision of a penalty in the rules. The law only stated that non-linking of the two IDs would lead to one's PAN becoming inoperative due to which the individual would not be able to conduct financial transactions wherever quoting of PAN is mandatory. So, if you have an inoperative PAN, you will not be able to file your income tax return, open a bank account, and you will be liable pay to a higher amount of TDS. Further, a penalty of Rs 10,000 may be levied as per section 272B of the Income-tax Act in case PAN is not quoted/furnished as required by the law.
As per section 139AA of the Income-tax Act, every individual who has been allotted a PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar number has to link his/her PAN with Aadhaar. If the PAN is not linked with Aadhaar before the expiry of the due date, then the PAN will become inoperative. Further, it is mandatory to quote the Aadhaar number at the time of filing an income tax return and also at the time of applying for a new PAN under section 139AA.