Have you linked your Permanent Account Number (PAN) card with your Aadhaar? If not, please do it immediately as March 31, 2020, is the last date to link the 12-digit biometric ID. The Income Tax department said that your PAN will become inoperative if you don't link it with Aadhaar by the above date.

It may be recalled that the deadline for linking of PAN and Aadhaar has been extended several times and the latest deadline ends on 31 March, 2020. The previous deadline was December 31, 2019.

Aadhaar card
The Income Tax department said that your PAN will become inoperative if you don't link it with Aadhaar by March 31st.Creative Commons

According to the latest figures, more than 30.75 crore PANs have already been linked to Aadhaar. However, 17.58 crore PANs are yet to be linked with the 12-digit biometric ID.

READ | How to link Pan with Aadhaar: Step by step guide

Earlier in September 2018, the Supreme Court had declared Aadhaar as constitutionally valid and held that the biometric ID would remain mandatory for the filing of income tax returns and allotment of PAN cards.

Where a person, who has been allotted the permanent account number as on July1, 2017 and is required to intimate his Aadhaar number under sub-section (2) of section 139AA, has failed to intimate the same on or before March 31, 2020, the permanent account number of such person shall become inoperative immediately after the said date for the purposes of furnishing, intimating or quoting under the Act," the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said.

Through a notification, the CBDT amended Income Tax rules and inserted Rule 114, stipulating the "manner of making permanent account number inoperative".

pan aadhaar linkage
Link your PAN with Aadhaar.Twitter

The notification said that persons whose PANs become inoperative shall be liable for all the consequences under the I-T Act for not furnishing, intimating or quoting the permanent account number.

For those linking PAN with Aadhaar after March 31, 2020, the I-T department said it shall "become operative from the date of intimation of Aadhaar number".

Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act says that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities.

Follow the steps to link your PAN card with your Aadhaar card online:

The I-Tax department has listed several ways for the assessees to link Aadhaar with PAN. Visit this website -- incometaxindia.gov.in.

  1. Step 1: Open the Income Tax e-filing portal -- www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in -- and log in to your account (if you already have an a/c or create one).
  2. Step 2: Select 'Profile Settings' and click on 'Link Aadhaar'
  3. Step 3: Type your 12-digit 'Aadhaar Number' in the box and select 'Link Aadhaar'.

A pop-up message will appear on the screen saying "Aadhaar-PAN linking is completed successfully".

(With IANS inputs)