**The Income Tax Department** has fixed **December 31, 2025** as the last date for some PAN holders to link their Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar, as per the CBDT notification dated April 3, 2025. This relaxation is exclusively applicable to those who were allotted PAN using **Aadhaar Enrollment ID** (instead of full Aadhaar number) before October 1, 2024. For most other PAN holders, the deadline has already passed (May 31, 2024), and late linking will attract a late fee of ₹1,000.
If not linked by December 31, 2025, PAN will become **inoperative** from January 1, 2026, which will lead to the following problems:
– Difficulty in filing or processing income tax returns.
– Delay or withholding of tax refund.
– Higher TDS/TCS rates on transactions.
– Prohibition on high value financial transactions (eg, bank transactions >₹10,000, cash deposits >₹50,000, opening of new accounts, mutual fund/equity investments).
– KYC will remain incomplete, which will affect government services and Form 26AS access.
If this specific category is linked by the deadline, there will be no additional penalties; However, to reactivate after the deadline, a fee of ₹ 1,000 will have to be paid.
Taxpayers should verify the status on the e-filing portal (incometax.gov.in) and complete the linking as soon as possible to avoid hassles. NRIs, senior citizens above 80 years of age and some special categories of people are exempted.
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