PAN card won't be invalid if it's not linked with Aadhaar by July 1

One more day to go and linking Aadhaar number with permanent account number (PAN) will be mandatory. However, if you don't link your Aadhaar with PAN before July 1, your PAN will not become invalid. A number of queries and doubts has risen on the issue of Aadhaar-PAN linking in the wake of the government making it clear that Aadhaar will be a "must" for filing ITRs and obtaining a new PAN from July 1.

After July 1, the linking will become mandatory and the government may declare a date after which the PAN not linked to Aadhaar will become invalid. The government has not declared that date yet. 

The tax department has stated that in no case any PAN will be invalidated. 

But since the linking is mandatory from July 1, you will need to quote Aadhaar number in the application form for allotment of a new permanent account number and in the return of income.

According to PTI, a senior Income Tax Department official clarified



that people who are not able to link their Aadhaar and Permanent Account Number (PAN) by July 1, will have the option to mention the UIDAI-provided number in the e-ITR and this will be considered a valid linking of the two unique numbers.

 Section 139AA, Income-tax Act says: "Every person who has been allotted permanent account number as on the 1st day of July, 2017, and who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number, shall intimate his Aadhaar number to such authority in such form and manner as may be prescribed, on or before a date to be notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette: Provided that in case of failure to intimate the Aadhaar number, the permanent account number allotted to the person shall be deemed to be invalid and the other provisions of this Act shall apply, as if the person had not applied for allotment of permanent account number." 

Many taxpayers found the website crashing, some even panicked for not successfully linking Aadhaar number with PAN.