PAN and Aadhaar: link them, or the PAN stops working

If you were required to link and did not, the PAN is inoperative. The general date on the e-filing guide is 30 June 2023. The department's linking FAQ also records a later window, to 31 May 2024, if you paid the ₹1,000 fee. Both dates are in the past. This is not a new deadline in FY 2026-27. You can still make the PAN operative by paying the fee and linking. Start at How to Link Aadhaar.

Official sources

How to Link Aadhaar: the e-filing steps, the fee payment, and where to check status. It states that a PAN not linked by 30 June 2023 becomes inoperative, unless the person is exempt.
Link Aadhaar FAQs: the 31 May 2024 late window with a ₹1,000 fee, who is exempt, and Notification No. 26/2025 for PANs allotted on an Aadhaar enrolment ID.
Consequences of not linking: Rule 114AAA. No refund, no interest on that refund while the PAN is inoperative, higher TDS under Section 206AA, higher TCS under Section 206CC.
Section 234H fee: ₹500 only if you intimated Aadhaar between 1 April 2022 and 30 June 2022. ₹1,000 in every other late case. The cap in the section is ₹1,000.
Form 26AS: where a deductor's TDS rate shows up after you open the statement from the e-filing site.

Why you still have to link

PAN is the number on your salary, your bank interest, and your tax return. Aadhaar is the biometric ID, one per person. PAN by itself has no biometric check, so the same person could hold more than one. Linking is how the department ties one PAN to one person.

Two IDs, one person

Aadhaar is a biometric identity. The system is built so one person has one.
PAN is only a tax number. Nothing in the number itself stops a duplicate.
After a successful link, that PAN is the one attached to that Aadhaar.

Where the dates stand in October 2026

The linking guide still says a PAN not linked by 30 June 2023 is inoperative. The FAQ adds that the late window ran to 31 May 2024, with the ₹1,000 fee. A separate case sits in Notification No. 26/2025: if your PAN was allotted from an Aadhaar enrolment ID (the application filed before 1 October 2024), you had to give the actual Aadhaar number by 31 December 2025. Miss that, and the FAQ says the PAN is inoperative from 1 January 2026. None of these is an open date you can still wait for.

What an inoperative PAN does

Rule 114AAA lists four results. The consequences FAQ and the linking FAQ use the same list. They apply from 1 July 2023 until the PAN is operative again. Exempt people are left out of this.

Rule 114AAA

Higher TDS, Section 206AA

If PAN is missing or inoperative, the deductor uses the highest of the rate in that section, the rate in force, or 20%. Interest, rent, and fees often move to 20%. A salary deduction already at 30% stays at 30%. It does not fall to 20%, and this rule does not push it above the rate already in force.

Higher TCS, Section 206CC

Where tax is collected at source, the collector uses the higher Section 206CC rate. The same FAQ pairs this with the TDS rule.

No refund

A refund that the Act says is due is not paid while the PAN is inoperative. The money stays with the department until the PAN works again.

No interest on that refund

Interest on the held refund is not paid for the stretch that starts when the PAN becomes inoperative and ends when it is operative again.

The same linking FAQ also says an inoperative PAN blocks ordinary use of the number: you cannot file a return with it, a return already pending is not processed, and a pending proceeding such as a defective return is not completed. Read the message on the e-filing portal before you rely on a screen you saw last year. Do not treat any of this as a fresh 2027 filing date.

Interest on a fixed deposit

Say the bank credits ₹10,00,000 of FD interest. The usual TDS on that interest is 10%, which is ₹1,00,000. With an inoperative PAN, Section 206AA puts the deduction at 20%, which is ₹2,00,000. The extra ₹1,00,000 is tax already taken, not a penalty you cannot claim back. You claim it in the return after the PAN is operative. The department does not issue the refund while the PAN is still inoperative.

A 20% line on Form 26AS

If a bank or employer is deducting 20% where the usual rate is lower, the PAN is often inoperative. Open Form 26AS from the e-filing site and read the rate on that entry. Then check the link status in the next section. A 20% rate is a clue, not proof by itself.

How to link, and the ₹1,000 fee

Use the portal first. It is the path the official guide documents. If you are late, the guide asks you to pay the fee before the link request goes through. Status after you submit can take from a few hours to a few days. The page's own steps below still say 2 to 3 days for the status to settle.

On the e-filing portal

1 Open How to Link Aadhaar.
2 Before login, use Quick Links, then Link Aadhaar. After login, use Profile, then Link Aadhaar.
3 Enter the 10-digit PAN and the 12-digit Aadhaar.
4 If the portal says payment details are missing, pay first. The guide sends you to e-Pay Tax, Income Tax, type of payment Other Receipts (500). The amount is filled in. If you have already paid and the portal still cannot see it, the guide says wait 4 to 5 working days, then submit the request.
5 Confirm with the OTP on the mobile number tied to Aadhaar. The guide then tells you the request is in, and you can check status.

SMS, if you cannot use the site

UIDPAN <12-digit Aadhaar> <10-digit PAN>

Send that to 567678 or 56161 from the mobile number on the Aadhaar.

Example: UIDPAN 123456789012 ABCDE1234F. If the SMS does not go through, use the portal steps. The fee still has to be paid when you are past the due date.

At a PAN centre

Take the PAN card and the Aadhaar card to an NSDL or UTIITSL PAN centre and file the linking form there. The centre route on this page takes 7 to 15 days.

The fee is for being late, not for receiving a notice

Due dates that have passed

30 June 2023 on the linking guide. 31 May 2024 on the FAQ, if the ₹1,000 fee was paid. 31 December 2025 only for a PAN that was issued on an Aadhaar enrolment ID.

Section 234H

₹500 if the intimation was between 1 April 2022 and 30 June 2022. ₹1,000 in every other case after the due date. That ₹1,000 is also the maximum the section allows.

If the name, date of birth, or gender on PAN and Aadhaar do not match, the request fails. Fix the record that is wrong, then submit again. If the portal says this PAN is already linked to a different Aadhaar, or the other way around, the FAQ points you to the jurisdictional Assessing Officer to delink the wrong pair. Do not keep retrying the same numbers.

Check the status before you assume it failed

Check before a bank deducts the higher rate for another quarter. The linking guide has Link Aadhaar Status both before login and after login.

1 On the e-filing home page, open Quick Links, then Link Aadhaar Status. After login, the same link sits on the dashboard or under My Profile.
2 Enter the PAN and the Aadhaar number.
3 Read the message. If UIDAI is still validating the request, the guide says to check again later. Allow the 2 to 3 days this page already uses before you file a second request.

Linked

The PAN is linked. You should see the Aadhaar number on the profile once it has settled.

Not linked

Pay the fee if it is still due, then submit the request.

In progress

UIDAI has the request. Check again in 2 to 3 days.

Who does not have to link

Linking is compulsory only if you are required to hold Aadhaar. The linking FAQ lists four cases. They follow Notification No. 37/2017. Read that list before you decide you are exempt. The FAQ also says these people are not hit by the inoperative-PAN consequences.

Non-resident

A non-resident as the Income-tax Act defines that word. A resident who works abroad for part of the year is not automatically in this group. The Act's day-count decides it.

Not a citizen of India

A person who is not a citizen of India. This is separate from the non-resident test. One can apply when the other does not.

Age 80 or more

Age 80 or more at any time during the previous year. The test is 80, not 60, and not 18.

Three states

A person residing in Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, or Meghalaya, as the notification writes those names.

There is no general "under 18" exemption on this list

Do not skip the link because someone is under 18. The four cases above are the ones the FAQ names. A resident citizen under 80, living outside those three states, is in the group that has to link. If you hold Aadhaar and a PAN and you are not in those four cases, check the status on the portal.

Why you still have to link

What an inoperative PAN does

How to link, and the ₹1,000 fee

Check the status before you assume it failed

Who does not have to link

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