PAN at Risk? Aadhaar-PAN linking ends today – Here’s how to verify your status instantly

You should know that it is the last day today to link your PAN with Aadhaar card for India(BHARAT)n taxpayers, whose deadline expired last week. If you have not linked your Aadhaar to PAN till now then don’t panic as today is the last day and after that your PAN may become inoperative from 1st January 2026. If you file income tax returns or do banking, financial transactions and investments it is a must for you to have a PAN.

As per Income Tax department rules, all taxpayers have to link Aadhaar to their PAN. This applies to almost all PAN holders, if the PAN was applied for before October 1, 2024, with the use of Aadhaar enrolment ID. If your PAN is not linked by 31st July 2024, then your PAN will become inoperative from 1st January 2026.

Effects of having an inoperative PAN

If your PAN becomes inoperative, it will affect all income tax and financial transactions:

• You cannot file income tax returns.
• No tax refunds will be processed to you.
• It will not be possible to open bank accounts and perform KYC-related tasks for brokers.
• Inoperative PAN will not allow you to buy or sell shares or securities.
• You may be subject to a penalty under the Income Tax Act.

Status of Aadhaar & PAN Link Verification

Effective tomorrow, the PAN that is not linked with Aadhaar will not be validated, and it will stop operating as a PAN for all tax and financial transactions.

To link PAN to Aadhaar:

• Go to the Income Tax e-filing portal
• Under the Quick Links, select Link Aadhaar
• Enter PAN and Aadhaar as per the details in the card.
• The status of PAN linked to Aadhaar will be shown.
• You can check the status under the profile option as well when logged in to the site; the status is also directly visible on the homepage.

OR

• Send a message to 56161 or 567678
• Type: UIDPAN and Send the message.

You will receive the message as follows:

Thanks for Linking Aadhaar with PAN :
Your Aadhaar Number: is now linked with PAN :

The next step is to Link Aadhaar

Visit the Income Tax e-Filing Portal and click on Link Aadhaar.

Enter your details, and validate the details by the OTP sent to the registered mobile number of the Aadhaar.

If you have missed the previous deadline, a late-fee penalty of about ₹1,000 may be levied on your linking request.