The Income Tax (IT) department clarified that non-resident Indians (NRIs) with inoperative PAN due to non-linking with Aadhaar or incorrect residential status, can still file their income tax returns.
The IT department said concerns have raise by certain NRIs/Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) regarding their PANs (Permanent Account Numbers) becoming inoperative.
The IT department said that NRIs who have not link their permanent account numbers (PAN) with Aadhaar should provide proof of their residential status to their jurisdictional assessing officer in order to activate their PAN.
In a tweet, the IT department said it has map the residential status of NRIs in case they have file ITR in any of the last three Assessment Years (AYs) or have intimate their residential status to the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO).
The department said that PAN is inoperative for NRIs who have not update their residential status or have not file returns in the last three assessment years (AYs).
IT department tweeted:
"The NRIs whose PANs are inoperative are requested to intimate their residential status to their respective JAO along with supporting documents with a request to update their residential status in the PAN database,".The PANs of OCIs/foreign citizens, who may have applied for PANs under resident status and have not corrected/updated their residential status to the JAO or have not file ITR in any of the last three AYs, have render inoperative.
IT department Said :
“The OCIs/foreign citizens are requested to intimate their residential status to their respective JAO along with supporting documents with a request to update their residential status in the PAN database,”.
The Income Tax Department also clarified that an inoperative PAN should not be confuse with an inactive PAN.
Even if the PAN becomes inoperative, individuals can still file their Income Tax Returns (ITR).
So, certain consequences arise when the PAN is inoperative.
These include the non-issuance of pending refunds and interest on tax refunds, as well as higher deduction rates for Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and Tax Collected at Source (TCS).
Under Income Tax laws, residents are require to link their PANs with Aadhaar using biometric authentication.
So, non-residents are exempt from this requirement and are not obligate to obtain an Aadhaar card.
The deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar was 30th June, 2023.
Starting from 1st July, 2023, PAN has deemed inoperative for individuals who failed to link it with Aadhaar.
Individuals who have not link their PAN with Aadhaar can still do so after paying a penalty.
