The Indian government has made it mandatory to link your Permanent Account Number (PAN) with your Aadhaar card.
Tax advisory platform TaxBuddy has warned that if you fail to link them by December 31, 2025, your PAN card will become inactive starting January 1, 2026.
According to TaxBuddy, “Your PAN card will be deactivated from January 1, 2026. You won’t be able to file your Income Tax Return (ITR) or receive any refunds.
Even your salary credit or SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) transactions might fail.”
Therefore, experts recommend completing the PAN-Aadhaar linking as soon as possible to avoid disruption in financial or tax-related activities.
Deadline and Who Must Link PAN with Aadhaar
The government has extended the PAN-Aadhaar linking deadline several times, but the latest deadline is December 31, 2025, and another extension is unlikely.
As per the Ministry of Finance notification (April 3, 2025):
“Every person who has been allotted a PAN based on the Aadhaar enrollment ID before October 1, 2024, must inform the Income Tax Department of their Aadhaar number by December 31, 2025.”
This means that if your PAN was created using your Aadhaar enrollment ID, it is mandatory to link the two after receiving your Aadhaar number.
The process can be done easily online through the Income Tax Department’s e-filing portal.
Consequences of Not Linking PAN and Aadhaar
If PAN-Aadhaar linking is not completed by December 31, 2025, your PAN will become inactive from January 1, 2026, leading to several issues:
You cannot file or verify your ITR.
Tax refunds will not be issued.
Pending ITRs will not be processed.
TDS/TCS information will not appear in Form 26AS.
TDS/TCS will be deducted at higher rates.
PAN will only be reactivated after relinking, usually within 30 days.
Financial Impact of an Inactive PAN
If your PAN becomes inactive, your existing bank accounts and investments remain safe, but you won’t be able to:
Make new investments, trade shares, or update KYC.
Receive salary credits or SIP auto-debits.
Open new bank accounts or redeem investments.
File ITR or complete tax compliance.
In short, while your money remains safe, all financial and tax-related activities will stop until your PAN is reactivated.
Step-by-Step Process to Link PAN with Aadhaar
Visit the official Income Tax website – https://www.incometax.gov.in
Click on “Link Aadhaar.”
Enter your PAN number, Aadhaar number, and mobile number.
Complete OTP verification.
If your PAN is already inactive, first pay a ₹1,000 linking fee.
After completing the process, check your status under ‘Quick Links → Link Aadhaar Status’.
