आधार-पैन लिंकिंग क्या है?

हर पैन को आधार से जोड़ना अनिवार्य है — बिना लिंक वाला पैन निष्क्रिय हो जाता है, जिससे रिटर्न, रिफंड और सामान्य टीडीएस दर रुक जाती है।

The linking is done on the income tax portal and, past the original free window, requires a ₹1,000 fee under section 234H. Once paid, activation takes up to thirty days.

Non-residents, residents of Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir, those over eighty, and non-citizens are exempt.

क्यों मायने रखता है

An inoperative PAN is discovered at the worst moment — usually when a refund does not arrive or a bank blocks a transaction.

एक उदाहरण, आँकड़ों के साथ

A salaried taxpayer's PAN becomes inoperative on 1 July and their employer processes salary for the rest of the year.

आँकड़े उदाहरण के लिए हैं; आपकी स्थिति के अनुसार बदलेंगे।
Annual salary	₹9,00,000
TDS normally deducted at slab rates	Roughly ₹45,000
Rate applied on an inoperative PAN	20% under section 206AA
TDS deducted for the year instead	₹1,80,000
Excess withheld	About ₹1,35,000
Cost to fix	₹1,000 linking fee

The excess comes back as a refund, but only after the PAN is operative and the return is processed — so ₹1,35,000 of take-home pay is unavailable for the better part of a year over a ₹1,000 fee.

कानूनी स्थिति

प्रत्येक आँकड़े के साथ उसका स्रोत।
मद	मान	स्रोत
Requirement	Every person eligible for Aadhaar must link it with PAN	Section 139AA, Income-tax Act 1961
Late linking fee	₹1,000	Rule 114(5A), Income-tax Rules 1962
Consequence of not linking	PAN becomes inoperative	Rule 114AAA, Income-tax Rules 1962
TDS rate on an inoperative PAN	20% under section 206AA	CBDT Circular 03/2023
Refunds while inoperative	Withheld, and no interest accrues on them for that period	CBDT Circular 03/2023
How to link	Income tax e-filing portal, after paying the fee under challan head 500	Income Tax Department e-filing portal

इसे इनसे न मिलाएँ

ये शब्द अक्सर एक-दूसरे के लिए इस्तेमाल कर लिए जाते हैं। ये अलग हैं।

PAN cancellation

An inoperative PAN is not cancelled. It exists and can be made operative again by linking and paying the fee. Nothing is lost permanently — it simply behaves as though it had never been furnished.

आम सवाल

Who is exempt?

Non-residents, individuals aged 80 or above, non-citizens, and residents of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya are outside the requirement under the notification issued with section 139AA.

What actually breaks while it is inoperative?

Refunds are withheld and no interest accrues on them, TDS is deducted at the higher 20% rate, and returns are not processed. Everything resumes once the link is completed, but the higher TDS already deducted has to be recovered through a return.

My name differs between Aadhaar and PAN. What now?

The link will not go through until they match, so one of the two has to be corrected first. Correcting the PAN record is usually faster than correcting Aadhaar, and the correction has to be completed and reflected before the linking request will validate.

How long does it take to become operative again?

Generally within about thirty days of the linking request being accepted. It is not instant, which matters if a refund or a large payment is already waiting on it — the fee and the request should go in well before the money does.

जो अक्सर ग़लत होता है

Assuming a name mismatch between Aadhaar and PAN will resolve itself — it blocks the link until one of the two is corrected
Discovering the problem only when a refund is stuck, months after the return was filed
Paying the ₹1,000 fee under the wrong head, so the linking request fails validation