Fact Check: Penalty For Not Linking Aadhaar Card With PAN Card Is Rs 1,000 Not Rs 10,000

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Social media users are sharing a post claiming that if the Aadhaar card is not linked with the PAN card by March 31, then it will invite a penalty of Rs 10,000. The Logical Indian Fact-Check team debunked the claim.

A message is circulating on social media claiming that if the PAN (Permanent Account Number) card is not linked to the Aadhaar card within the deadline i,e., March 31, 2021, then it might invite a penalty of Rs 10,000. Many people are sharing an image with the text on it that says, "The last date for linking PAN card with Aadhaar card is 31st March. In case you don't do it, your PAN will become invalid. A penalty of Rs 10,000 may apply if you fail to link the two documents within the deadline."

A Twitter user, Fukkard, shared the post.

A Facebook page Ram Fans Association, also posted the same claim.

Do Share with your Near & Dear Many of them aren't aware of it 👍

To link PAN to Aadhar :...
Posted by Ram Fans Association on Saturday, 27 March 2021

Claim:

A fine of Rs 10,000 will be imposed for not linking the PAN card with the Aadhaar card.

Fact Check:

On keyword search, we couldn't find any media reports that say not linking a PAN card with an Aadhaar card will invite a penalty of Rs 10,000. However, we found a report by India Today published on March 31, 2021, which said that if the PAN card is not linked with the Aadhaar card, then a fine of Rs 1000 will be imposed. The penalty will be imposed under Section 234 H of the Income Tax Act 1961. The government had notified about this on March 23, at the time of passing Finance Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha.

It is essential for a person to link an Aadhaar card with a PAN card under Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act 1961. If the Aadhaar card is not linked with the PAN card, then the PAN card becomes inoperative, and a Pan card is mandatory for opening a bank account and also to have transactions of more than Rs 50,000.

At the same time, according to Section 272 (B) of the Income Tax Act, the assessing officer may impose a penalty of Rs 10,000 if one fails to comply with the provisions of section 139A.

The Income Tax department has tweeted to inform that the last date for linking of Aadhaar number with PAN has been extended from March 31, 2021, to June 30, 2021. The step has been taken in view of the surge of coronavirus cases in India.

Central Government extends the last date for linking of Aadhaar number with PAN from 31st March, 2021 to 30th June, 2021, in view of the difficulties arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.(1/2)@nsitharamanoffc @Anurag_Office @FinMinIndia
— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) March 31, 2021