Mysore/Mysuru: Linking of PAN and Aadhaar has been enabled now in the Income Tax portal. Every person who has been allotted a Permanent Account Number (PAN) and who is eligible to obtain an Aadhaar number,  shall mandatorily link their Aadhaar and PAN on payment of fee Rs. 500 on or before 30.6.2022 and Rs. 1,000 thereafter.

The fee payment for PAN-Aadhaar Linkage need to be made through e-Pay Tax functionality available on NSDL (now Protean) Portal.

The prescribed fee must be paid under Major Head 0021 and Minor Head 500 and Assessment Year (AY) should be 2023-24 using Challan ITNS  280.

The taxpayer is suggested to link PAN-Aadhaar after 4-5 days of making the payment. If taxpayer has  made any mistake while making the payment under Minor head 500, there is no provision for refund of  wrong payments made.

Any mismatch in name, date of birth in Aadhaar and PAN correct the details either in PAN or Aadhaar database such that both have matching details.

If PAN-Aadhaar not linked,  it will become inoperative. If inoperative:

i) The PAN holder will not be able  to file return using the inoperative PAN (ii) Pending returns will not be processed (iii) Pending refunds  cannot be issued (iv) Pending proceedings as in the case of defective returns cannot be completed (v)  Tax will be required to be deducted at a higher rate as PAN becomes inoperative.

In addition to the above, the tax-payer might face difficulty at various other places like banks and other financial institutions, as PAN is one of the important KYC criterion for many of the financial transactions.

Aadhaar-PAN linking presently does not apply to any individual who is i) A non-resident as per the  Income Tax Act, 1961, ii) Of the age of eighty years or more and iii) Not a citizen of India, according to a press release from N.D. Shreenivaas of Bhavani Associates, Mysuru.