What Happens If You Don’t Link PAN to Aadhaar by 30 June 2018?

Will your PAN be invalid? Will you not be able to file income tax returns? Experts clear clear the air.

The last day for linking Aadhaar to PAN is 30 June, as per the latest press release from the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

As per Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act, every person having a PAN as on 1 July, 2017, must intimate their Aadhaar number to tax authorities by the said date.

Or else what? What happens if you don’t link your PAN to Aadhaar by 30 June? Will your PAN be invalid? Will you be stopped from filing Income Tax returns?

Grave Consequences

Speaking to The Economic Times, Chetan Chandak of H&R Block, one of India’s largest e-filing tax portals, said:

Unless the CBDT extends the date again, taxpayers who already have an Aadhaar and have not linked it with their PAN may face grave consequences. Taxpayers may not be allowed to file the return post 30 June without linking PAN and Aadhaar. Also, if they have already filed the return it may not get processed by the tax authorities. 

Chetan Chandak, H&R Block, to The Economic Times

Shalini Jain, Tax Partner at EY India said to The Economic Times:

On the basis of the existing provisions of the Income Tax Act and the SC ruling, there is a risk of PAN being considered invalid for people who have an Aadhaar but have not linked it to PAN by the due date. 

But Wait!

Given the SC judgement on Aadhaar, a person’s PAN may not be deactivated or invalidated because they are bound to suffer immensely in their day to day dealings owing to deactivation of PAN. 

Chetan Chandak, H&R Block, to The Economic Times

Citing legal precedent, Jain says:

However, the Supreme Court, in the case of Binoy Viswam, has provided for a partial stay of this provision’s applicability for those who do not have Aadhaar and, therefore, have not completed the linking process.  

Additionally, if the deadline is extended, which another chartered account, on condition of anonymity, says is the likeliest possibility, you could continue filing your IT returns uninterrupted, and these would be processed as is the norm.

However, he adds, in the statement to The Economic Times, that if 30 June is the last date and the CBDT does not extend the deadline, your PAN may become invalid from 1 July, disabling you from filing your income tax returns.

All three, however, said to The Economic Times that the extension of the deadline is the likeliest scenario, given that the CBDT has extended the deadline thrice in the past – first from August 2017 to December 2017 first, then again to March 2018, and once more to June 2018.