Aadhaar-PAN Linking: Will Your PAN Card Be Invalid From January 1 If Missed December 31 Deadline? How To Link?

The Finance Ministry has issued a clear notification to citizens who have availed their permanent account number (PAN) card after October 1, 2024, to link this important identification with Aadhaar card. It is mandatory to link your PAN card with Aadhaar to file your income tax return seamlessly.

Linking PAN with Aadhaar is an important procedure for completing your KYC norms for various services such as opening a bank account, investing in market-related instruments, filing ITR, making tax payments, or paying TDS, among others.

Aadhaar-PAN Card Linking Deadline:

The FinMin notified, saying, "every person who has been allotted permanent account number on the basis of Enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form filed prior to the 1st day of October, 2024, shall intimate his Aadhaar number to the Principal Director General of Incometax (Systems) or Director General of Income-tax (Systems) or the person authorised by the said authorities on or before the 31st day of December, 2025 or such date as may be specified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes in this behalf."

If you missed the December 31st deadline your PAN card could become inoperative. However, does that mean your PAN card will become invalid? Let's find out!

Will Your PAN Card Become Invalid If Missed December 31st Deadline?

First and foremost, if you missed the deadline of December 31st, your PAN card will become inoperative but not invalid. Simply put, it will be active but not usable for any services.

You can activate your inoperative PAN card by paying a penalty of Rs 1,000 after missing December 31st deadline. Once you pay the fine, your PAN card status will become operative in a span of 7 days to 30 days.

However, citizens must ensure that their PAN number and Aadhaar is valid before paying the penalty.

How To Activate Inoperative PAN Card?

If you missed the December 31st deadline, so the first step is to activate your inoperative PAN card. To do so, follow the steps mentioned below:

Step 1: Visit the Income Tax Department's e-filing portal. Direct Link given below:

https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/

Step 2: On the homepage, under the 'Quick Links' section, click on 'e-Pay Tax' option.

This will take you to a new page where you will be required to pay the penalty first. This is can be done through debit card, over the counter, NEFT/RTGS, net banking and other payment gateway.

Step 3: On the new page, fill the details under "PAN/TAN" and Confirm "PAN/TAN". Then add your mobile number.

Step 4: Click on Continue after filling the above-mentioned details. You will be required to give a one-time password (OTP) for verification. Once added the OTP, you will be redirected to e-PAY Tax page. There click on CONTINUE.

Step 5: Then click on 'PROCEED' option under the 'Income Tax' tab.

Step 6: You will be directed to a new page where you will have to select the assessment year 2024-25, and 'Type of Payment (Minor Head)' as 'Other Receipts (500)'. And then select 'Fee for delay in linking PAN with Aadhaar'.

Step 7: Once done, click on CONTINUE. Notably, the applicable amount will be pre-filled against 'Others' option. You will have to click on CONTINUE and then you will be directed to make the payment of your penalty.

It needs to be noted that a list of banks have been authorised through which you can pay the penalty. These are:

• Axis Bank

• Bandhan Bank

• Bank of Baroda

• Bank of India

• Bank of Maharashtra

• Canara Bank

• Central Bank of India

• City Union Bank

• DCB Bank

• Dhanlaxmi Bank

• Federal Bank

• HDFC Bank

• ICICI Bank

• IDBI Bank

• IDFC FIRST Bank

• Indian Bank

• Indian Overseas Bank

• IndusInd Bank

• Jammu & Kashmir Bank

• Karnataka Bank

• Karur Vysya Bank

• Kotak Mahindra Bank

• Punjab & Sind Bank

• Punjab National Bank

• RBL Bank

• South Indian Bank

• State Bank of India

• Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Ltd

• UCO Bank

• Union Bank of India

• YES BANK

Once you have paid the penalty, the next step is to link your Aadhaar with PAN card.

How To Link PAN-Aadhaar Card?

Aadhaar PAN link request can be made both in the Post login as well as in Pre-login mode, as per the IT department.

Submit Aadhaar PAN link Request (Post login):

Step 1: Go to e-filing Portal > Login > On Dashboard, in Profile section under the Link Aadhaar to PAN option, click Link Aadhaar.

Or alternatively, click on Link Aadhaar in personal details section.

Step 2: Enter the Aadhaar number and click on Validate.

Submit Aadhaar PAN link Request (Pre-login):

Step 1: Go to e-filing portal home page and click on Link Aadhaar under Quick Links.

Step 2: Enter the PAN and Aadhaar and click Validate.

Step 3: Enter the mandatory details as required and click on Link Aadhaar.

Step 4: Enter the 6-digit OTP received on mobile number mentioned in the previous step and click on Validate.

Step 5: Request for link of Aadhaar has been submitted successfully, now you can check the Aadhaar-PAN link status.