20 Crore PAN Cards to Become Junk After August 31 if Not Linked With Aadhaar Number

The decision was made as a result of reports received by the Income Tax Department about its illegal use for making loans or getting a credit card.

New Delhi: Nearly 20 crore Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards will be declared invalid after August 31 if they are not linked with the person’s Aadhaar number.

Once the Income Tax Department cancels the PAN card, it cannot be used again. An official of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that it is not possible that 20 crore PAN card holders in India do not have an Aadhar card. There are 43 crore PAN card holders in India and 120 crore Aadhaar holders.

The official also said that anyone who does not own an Aadhaar Card yet will get more than 40 days to get the unique number.

The decision was made as a result of reports received by the Income Tax Department about its illegal use for making loans or getting a credit card. Moreover, there are some people who use it as an identity proof in Nepal and Bhutan.

As a result, it is mandatory to link the PAN with Aadhaar number, failing to which the PAN card will be invalid from September 1, 2019.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech on Friday said that she was making a proposal to make Aadhaar interchangeable with PAN.