If you have a valid permanent account number (PAN), then you need to mandatorily link it with your Aadhaar number by March 31, 2023.
But then you could also fall under certain categories, where you may not have an income, and therefore, won’t have a PAN, for instance, a student or a homemaker or senior citizen without any source of income.
Do such people also have to get a PAN and link it with their Aadhaar by the March 31, 2022 deadline?
“If my spouse is not coming under any income tax slab, is it mandatory to carry out the PAN-Aadhaar link? My mother is 70 years old, is it mandatory for her as well to link her PAN with Aadhaar?” one of our readers asked us on social media.
What Income Tax Act Says
According to Section 139AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, with effect from July 1, 2017, it is mandatory for every person, who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar, to quote his/her Aadhaar number while applying for PAN or furnishing return of income.
S Ravi, a chartered accountant, and founder & managing partner of Ravi Rajan & Co, a Mumbai-based CA firm, says that PAN is required when any person or company has taxable income. Also, there are certain transactions where quoting of PAN is essential.
“Students, housewives, non-taxpayers, who do not have PAN number are not required to follow the guidelines of linking PAN with Aadhaar,” says S Ravi.
Archit Gupta, founder and CEO, Clear, says that any person who is eligible to get Aadhaar on or any time after July 1, 2017 and holds a PAN is legally required to link his/her PAN and Aadhaar.
Certain classes of persons are exempted from linking the PAN and Aadhaar. They are:
A tax non-resident in India
Instances Where Linking PAN And Aadhaar Are Mandatory
If you want to do banking, make investments or any financial transaction , then you will need a PAN and you will have to mandatorily link it with your Aadhaar by March 31, 2023, even if you do not have any source of income or fall in any of the categories which does not need you to have a PAN.
Should you fail to link your Aadhaar and PAN before March 31, 2023, the PAN will become inoperative, and it will be deemed that you do not possess a valid PAN.
To link you PAN, you will need to pay a penalty of Rs 1,000, and then link the two documents on the
Protean egov.nsdl website along with the late fee challan.
