How To Check PAN Card Active Or Inactive?

A PAN card is an essential document for various financial purposes, such as filing income tax returns, opening a bank account, getting income tax refunds, issuing a debit/credit card, etc. However, the Government of India has deactivated many PAN cards recently due to various reasons. This article provides a comprehensive guide to check your PAN card status, i.e., if your PAN is active or inoperative.

Prerequisites to check PAN card status

Individuals will require the following to check their PAN card status:

• PAN number
• Valid mobile number 

Steps to check PAN card status

Below are the steps to verify your PAN Card or check if your PAN card is active or inactive:

Step 1: Go to the Income Tax e-filing website.

Step 2: Click the ‘Verify PAN Status’ option under the ‘Quick Links’ heading on the homepage.

Step 3: Enter your PAN number, name, date of birth and mobile number and click the ‘Continue’ button.

Step 4: Next, enter the OTP sent to your mobile number and click the ‘Validate’ button.

Step 5: Your PAN card status will be displayed.

Consequences of when PAN card is inoperative

If your PAN card is inoperative, you cannot do the following financial transactions:

• Opening an account (except a time deposit and a basic savings bank deposit account) with a banking company or a cooperative bank
• Applying for the issue of a credit and debit card
• Opening a demat account with a participant, depository or custodian of securities
• Payment in cash exceeding Rs.50,000 for the following purposes:
  • to a restaurant or hotel against a bill
  • for travel to a foreign country or payment for purchasing a foreign currency
  • to a mutual fund for the purchase of its units
  • to a company or an institution for acquiring bonds or debentures issued by them
  • to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for acquiring bonds  
• Deposits of cash of more than Rs.50,000 in one day with a banking company or a cooperative bank
• Payment in cash exceeding Rs.50,000 in any one day for the purchase of bank drafts,  banker’s cheques, or pay orders from a banking company or a cooperative bank
• Opening a time deposit exceeding Rs.50,000 or aggregating to more than Rs.5 lakh during a financial year with a bank company, post office, a co-operative bank, NBFC or a Nidhi registered under the Companies Act, 2013
• Payment in cash, bank draft, pay order or banker’s cheque of an amount aggregating to more than Rs.50,000 in a financial year for one or more prepaid payment instruments to a banking company, a co-operative bank or to another institution or company
• Payment of an amount aggregating to more than Rs.50,000 in a financial year as a life insurance premium to an insurer
• The sale or purchase of securities (other than shares) exceeding Rs.1 lakh per transaction
• The sale or purchase of shares of a company not listed in any recognised stock exchange exceeding Rs.1 lakh per transaction

A higher tax will be deducted for the following financial transactions when the PAN is inoperative:

• Purchase or sale of a motor vehicle or vehicle other than a two-wheeled vehicle
• Purchase or sale of immovable property exceeding Rs.10 lakh or valued by a stamp valuation authority where the amount exceeds Rs.10 lakh
• Purchase or sale of goods or services for an amount exceeding Rs.2 lakh per transaction

Reasons for PAN Card Deactivation

There are several reasons why your PAN card may be deactivated. One of the major reasons for the deactivation of PAN cards is missing the deadline for linking PAN-Aadhaar. As per the CBDT notification, it is mandatory for all individuals (except the exempt category individuals) to link their PAN with Aadhaar by 30 June 2023. The PAN card will be inoperative if an individual has not linked the PAN with Aadhaar. Individuals can check if their PAN is valid or invalid through the Income Tax website. 

If an individual has multiple PAN cards, the Income Tax Department will deactivate the PAN cards. The Income Tax Department will deactivate the PAN cards identified as fake as they are issued to individuals with a false identity or to non-existing individuals.   

What to do when PAN card is deactivated?

If your PAN card is deactivated by the Income Tax Department due to some reason other than non-linking your PAN with your Aadhaar card, you need to draft a letter requesting to activate your PAN card and send it to your jurisdictional Assessing Officer (AO) in the Income Tax Department. Remember to send the following documents along with the letter:

• Copy of the PAN used to file your Income Tax Returns 
• Indemnity Bond in favour of the Income Tax Department 
• Copy of Income Tax Returns filed in the previous three years from the deactivated PAN number

Once the AO receives your request letter and the AO is satisfied with the genuineness of your letter, the department will activate your PAN card in 15-30 days.

How to link PAN-Aadhaar? 

If your PAN is inoperative due to non-linking of PAN and Aadhaar, you can make it operative again by applying to link PAN-Aadhaar after paying the penalty of Rs.1,000. However, the PAN will be operative after 30 days of applying for PAN-Aadhaar linking. Below are the steps to link PAN with Aadhaar:

• Step 1: Go to the Income Tax e-filing website.
• Step 2: Click the ‘e-Pay Tax’ option under the ‘Quick Links’ heading on the homepage.
• Step 3: Enter the ‘PAN’ number, mobile number and click the ‘Continue’ button.
• Step 4: Enter the OTP and click the ‘Continue’ button.
• Step 5: Next, click the ‘Proceed’ button under the ‘Income Tax’ tab.
• Step 6: Select the assessment year as ‘2023-24’, type of payment (minor head) as ‘Other Receipts (500)’ and click the ‘Continue’ button to pay the penalty.
• Step 7: After paying the penalty, go to the homepage and click the ‘Link Aadhaar’ option under the ‘Quick Links’ heading.
• Step 8: Enter the PAN and Aadhaar number and click ‘Validate’. Enter the name, mobile number and click the ‘Link Aadhaar’ button.
• Step 9: Enter the OTP and click the ‘Validate’ button. The request for PAN-Aadhaar linking will be sent to the UIDAI.

How to check PAN-Aadhaar linking status?

You can check if your PAN is linked with Aadhaar by following the below steps:

• Step 1: Go to the Income Tax e-filing website.
• Step 2: Click the ‘Link Aadhaar Status’ option under the ‘Quick Links’ heading on the homepage.
• Step 3: Enter your PAN and Aadhaar card number and click the ‘View Link Aadhaar Status’ option.
• Step 4: The PAN-Aadhaar link status will be displayed on the screen.

The PAN card can be inoperative due to various reasons. You can check the PAN card status on the Income Tax e-filing website to check if your PAN card is active. 

If your PAN is inctive or inoperative due to non-linking PAN and Aadhaar card, you must send the request to link your PAN-Aadhaar after paying the penalty amount. It will be 30 days for the PAN card to be operative again. However, if your PAN card is inoperative due to any other reason, contact your jurisdictional AO in the Income Tax Department and request them to activate your PAN card.

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