Recently the government of India has mandated linking Aadhaar with a PAN (Permanent Account Number). In the Indian territory, Aadhar cards and PAN are crucial in channelling most financial activities, from filing taxes to carrying out transactions and so much more. The last few months have witnessed an exhilarating campaign on linking Aadhaar with PAN cards online. The government has given numerous deadlines with many shifts to later dates, accentuating the gravity and seriousness of the action or task.
A PAN card is a unique tax identification number issued by India’s Income Tax Department and is crucial in managing many of our financial activities. Be it the filing of IT returns, purchasing jewellery or buying property or lands, PAN has an exponential role to play in all. Aadhar Card, although a recently launched phenomenon, is yet another essential credential for every citizen. It’s an attempt to issue an identification card for every Indian citizen as proof of nationality, handled through biometrics codes and deemed remarkably secure. The urge to link both identification cards online is centred on enabling citizens to file Income Tax returns in the foreseeable future.
Extension of Date
Taxpayers have been anxious about the dates set for the deadline for linking the Aadhaar and PAN card. Seeing this restless plight of taxpayers, the government of India has decided to cut citizens slack and relieve them from the approaching deadline by extending it to a further date. The revised deadline for linking Aadhar and PAN card is June 30, 2023. The extension has been granted for the smooth conduction of the process and for people to submit the details of their Aadhaar to the concerned authority for its linkage with PAN card.
Consequences of failure of the linkage
If or when one fails to link their Aadhaar Card with PAN before July 1, their PAN card will become inoperative and won’t function anymore. The consequences for the same would be the restriction of any refund on such PANs, along with non-payable interests on such refunds. Apart from this, the deduction of TDS and TCS will now be at a higher tax rate. Although, the inoperative PAN card can be brought into operation within the next 30 days, only after paying a fine of one thousand rupees.
Benefits of linking PAN- Aadhaar
Some considerable developments and benefits would be borne out of the linkage of PAN and Aadhaar Card.
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E-Filling made easier
The PAN-Aadhar linkage allows the government to have better and succinctly determine the taxable amount of taxpayers, which can help in the smooth conduct of filing Income taxes effectively with enhanced efficiency.
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Penalties can be avoided
The failure of Aadhaar- PAN linkage can lead to a penalty of up to 10,000 INR, which can be easily dodged by linking both cards before the designated date.
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Fraud Reduction
Tax evasion and various fraudulent activities can be avoided with identity verification made easier. This new feature has also helped evade creating multiple PAN cards under the same name.
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Better access to government services
A plethora of government services will be made more accessible, especially those which require Aadhaar authentication, such as opening a bank account, acquiring a passport, welfare schemes and various other government subsidies.
