Aadhaar-PAN card link: 'Neither ITR refund nor salary will be received', if this work is not done by December 31..

Aadhaar-PAN card link: Linking your PAN card with your Aadhaar card has now become mandatory. If you don't do this by December 31, 2025, your PAN card will become inoperative from January 1, 2026. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has already issued a notification regarding this. TaxBuddy has now warned on the social media platform X that after this, ITR filing will be impossible, refunds will not be available, and many financial transactions may be stalled.

TaxBuddy wrote, "Your PAN card will be deactivated from January 1, 2026. You will not be able to file ITR, nor will you receive a refund. Even salary will not be credited, and SIPs may fail."

In fact, the government has extended the deadline for PAN-Aadhaar linking several times, but no new date has been announced yet. Currently, the deadline is December 31, 2025. But now the question is how to link PAN and Aadhaar, who can do it, and what things are important to keep in mind. So let's understand everything.

Who needs to link PAN and Aadhaar?
According to the Finance Ministry's notification dated April 3, 2025, those who were issued a PAN card based on their Aadhaar enrollment ID before October 1, 2024, must submit their Aadhaar number to the Income Tax Department by December 31, 2025. If your PAN was created using your Aadhaar enrollment ID, you must re-link your Aadhaar and PAN after receiving your Aadhaar number.

What will happen if your PAN is not linked?
If you don't link your PAN and Aadhaar by the due date:

Your PAN card will become inoperative from the next day.

You will not be able to file or verify your ITR.

Your ITR refund will be stopped.
Pending ITRs will not be processed.
TDS/TCS credits will not be reflected in Form 26AS.
TDS/TCS will be deducted at a higher rate.

If linking is done later, the PAN will be reactivated, usually within 30 days.
Will salary or investments be stopped?
If your bank account or investment is already active, no money will be stopped.

What will you be unable to do if your PAN is inoperative?
You will not be able to make new investments
You will not be able to trade shares or update KYC
Tax-related work will be halted
This means that money will remain safe, but transactions and tax compliance will be halted.
Who can link PAN-Aadhaar?
According to the Income Tax portal, all individual taxpayers, registered or unregistered, can link PAN-Aadhaar online.

How to link PAN with Aadhaar?
Go to the Income Tax Department's official website, incometax.gov.in.
Click on the 'Link Aadhaar' option.
Enter your PAN, Aadhaar number, and mobile number.
Then click on Validate.
If not linked, enter your registered mobile number.
Enter the OTP and click the Submit button.
Once the linking is complete, you will see a confirmation message on the screen.
Check the status in 'Quick Links → Link Aadhaar Status'.

Keep these things in mind before linking:
The name, date of birth, and mobile number on the PAN and Aadhaar must match.
NRIs, those aged 80+, and residents of certain states are exempt, but please confirm this first.
The website may slow down or crash near the deadline, so link early.
Don't forget to save a screenshot after linking.

Disclaimer: This content has been sourced and edited from Dainik Jagran. While we have made modifications for clarity and presentation, the original content belongs to its respective authors and website. We do not claim ownership of the content.