11.5 cr PAN cards deactivated for not linking with Aadhaar: How to reactivate?

11.5 cr pan card deactivated for missing in Aadhar card

According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes’ (CBDT) response to a Right to Information (RTI) request, 11.5 crore PAN cards were deactivated overall because they weren’t connected to Aadhaar cards by the June 30 deadline. Of the 70.24 crore PAN card holders in India, 57.25 crore have linked their cards to Aadhaar successfully. According to estimates last week, over 12 crore PAN cards are still unlinked, and 11.5 crore of those cards may be deactivated for non-compliance.

The RTI was filed by Madhya Pradesh activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur.

The RTI statement went on to state, “This linking of PAN and Aadhaar was required to be done on or before a notified date, failing which PAN becomes inoperative.”

Notably, the Aadhaar-PAN linkage is handled automatically during the application stage for new PAN card applicants. It is considered “mandatory” for current PAN holders who were assigned their PAN on or before July 1, 2017, to link their PAN and Aadhaar. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has levied a penalty of Rs 1,000 for reactivating an inoperative PAN card.

Here is how you can reactivate your PAN card:

You can reactivate your PAN by giving the I-T department your Aadhaar details if you missed the Aadhaar link deadline and it became inactive.

The I-T department stated, “If an individual fails to link PAN-Aadhaar by the deadline, he shall be liable to pay a fee, up to Rs. 1,000 under section 234H.”

In case your PAN is deactivated then you need to do the following:

1) You need to write a letter to your jurisdictional AO in the Income Tax Department for activation of your PAN.

2) The following documents need to be attached to the letter for activation of PAN:

Indemnity Bond in favor of the Income Tax department.
Copy of PAN on which the PAN holder is regularly filing the Income Tax Return.
Copy of last three years’ Income Tax Returns filed on the PAN deactivated.

3) It takes at least 10-15 days for the Income Tax Department to re-activate the PAN after submission of the letter to the I-T department.

Consequences of inoperative PAN:

The PAN of taxpayers who fail to provide the required Aadhaar information will become inoperative. During the period of interoperability, the following consequences will apply:

No refunds will be issued for transactions associated with such PANs.
Interest will not be payable on any refunds during the period in which the PAN remains inoperative.
TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) and TCS (Tax Collected at Source) will be deducted or collected at higher rate as stipulated in the Act.