PAN cards not linked to Aadhaar by Sept 1 to be invalid

PAN cards would be inoperable from 1st September 2019, if not linked with Aadhaar, according to reports.

The latest rules have been cited under the new Income tax law that was proposed in the Finance Bill 2019. Under section 139 AA, the Permanent Account Number (PAN) would be 'inoperative' if not linked with the Aadhaar card. The amendment would come into effect from September 1, 2019.

The Finance Bill says, "It is proposed to amend the said proviso so as provide that if a person fails to intimate the Aadhaar number, the permanent account number allotted to such person shall be made inoperative after the notified date in the manner as may be provided by rules. This amendment will take effect from 1st September 2019."

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At the moment, 180 million out of 400 million PAN cards are not linked to Aadhaar, according to sources privy with the matter who told the Wire. The amendment was proposed as a result of reports by the Income Tax department on illegal use for getting credit cards.

To solve the problem, the Finance Minister, in her maiden Budget speech, made a proposal to make Aadhaar and PAN interchangeable which means that any person entering a transaction who does not have a PAN but possesses an Aadhaar number can use it instead of the PAN.

In Budget 2017, it was proposed that Aadhaar must be mandatorily linked to the PAN or it will be 'invalid', the new amendment replaces the word 'invalid' with 'inoperative'.