MM TAX CLUB

Circular No.7 of 2022 dated 30th of March, 2022

Clarification with respect to relaxation of provisions of rule 114AAA of Income-tax Rules, 1962 prescribing the manner of making Permanent Account Number (PAN) inoperative

Instances had come to the notice of the Income-tax Department that multiple permanent account numbers (PANs) have been allotted to one person or one PAN has been allotted to more than one person. In order to have a robust way of de-duplication of PAN data base, Finance Act, 2017 with effect from 1 st April, 2017, inserted section 139AA in the Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) making it mandatory for a taxpayer who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar, to quote his Aadhaar in the application form for PAN and return of income.

Sub-section (2) of section 139AA of the Act makes it mandatory for every person who has been allotted a PAN as on 1 st July, 2017 to intimate his Aadhaar Number so that the Aadhaar and PAN can be linked. This is required to be done on or before a notified date, failing which the PAN shall become inoperative.

Accordingly, in case of failure to intimate the Aadhaar Number by the last extended notified date i.e. 31.03.2022, the PAN allotted to the person shall be made inoperative in accordance with the provisions of the Act. Further, the Finance Act, 2021 inserted a new section 234H in the Act to complete the process of PAN-Aadhaar linking for identifying bogus PANs. This section provides that where a person who is required to intimate his Aadhaar under subsection (2) of secti'on 139 AA fails to do so on or before a notified date, he shall be liable to pay a fee not exceeding a sum of one thousand rupees, as may be prescribed, at the time of making intimation under sub-section (2) of section 139AA after the said date.

Further, rule 114AAA of the Income-tax Rules provides that if PAN of a person has become inoperative, he will not be able to furnish, intimate or quote his PAN and shall be liable to all the consequences under the Act for such failure. This will have a number of implications such as:-

(i) The person shall not be able to file return using the inoperative PAN

(ii) Pending returns will not be processed

(iii) Pending refunds cannot be issued to inoperative PANs

(iv) Pending proceedings as in the case of defective returns cannot be completed once

the PAN is inoperative

(v) Tax will be required to be deducted at a higher rate as PAN becomes inoperative

In addition to the above, the tax payer might face difficulty at various other fora like banks and other financial portals, as PAN is one of the important KYC criterions for all kinds of financial transactions.

Hence, in order to have smooth application of section 234H and existing rule 114AAA, it is clarified that the impact of sub-rule (2) of rule 114AAA i.e. where a person. Whose permanent account number has become inoperative under sub-rule (1). is required to furnish. intimate or quote his permanent account number under the Act. it shall be deemed that he has not furnished. intimated or quoted the permanent account number. as the case may be. In accordance with the provisions ofthe Act. and he shall be liable for all the consequences under the Act tor not turnishing. intimating or quoting the permanent account number. shall come into effect from 1 st April, 2023 and the period beginning from 1st April, 2022 and ending with 31st March, 2023, shall be the period during which the said sub-rule shall not have its negative consequences of the nature referred to in the said sub-rule or specified in paras 4 and 4.1 above. However, the tax payer shall be liable to pay a fee in accordance with sub-rule (5A) of rule 114.

Government extended Aadhaar PAN linking date till 31st March 2023 subject to payment of fee for Rs. 500/- till 30th June 2022 and Rs. 1,000/- thereafter. detailed press release can be read below;

Amendment to the provisions of Income-tax Rules, 1962 for prescribing fees under section 234H of the Income-tax Act, 1961

Under the provisions of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (“the Act”), every person who has been allotted a PAN as on 1st July, 2017 and is eligible to obtain Aadhaar Number, is required to intimate his Aadhaar to the prescribed authority on or before 31st March, 2022. On failure to do so, his PAN shall become inoperative and all procedures in which PAN is required shall be halted. The PAN can be made operative again upon intimation of Aadhaar to the prescribed authority after payment of a prescribed fee.

In order to mitigate the inconvenience to the taxpayers, as per Notification No.17/2022 dated 29th March, 2022, a window of opportunity has been provided to the taxpayers upto 31st of March, 2023 to intimate their Aadhaar to the prescribed authority for Aadhaar-PAN linking without facing repercussions. As a result, taxpayers will be required to pay a fee of Rs. 500 up to three months from 1st April, 2022 and a fee of Rs.1000 after that, while intimating their Aadhaar.

However, till 31st March, 2023 the PAN of the assessees who have not intimated their Aadhaar, will continue to be functional for the procedures under the Act, like furnishing of return of income, processing of refunds etc. A detailed Circular No.7/2022 dated 30.03.2022 has also been issued in this regard.

After 31st March, 2023, the PAN of taxpayers who fail to intimate their Aadhaar, as required, shall become inoperative and all the consequences under the Act for not furnishing, intimating or quoting the PAN shall apply to such taxpayers.

Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) announces to declare Matriculation result on 31/03/2022 by 1.00 PM but unfortunately, the data on website was not uploaded properly till then hence official website kept under maintenance.

Now it’s expected result can be declare by 3.00 pm today on official website biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in, board is to conduct press conference soon and its expected to as soon as press conference started.

The board will also release the BSEB 10th toppers list 2022 along with the result. Students can check the Bihar Board 10th result 2022 toppers list on the board's official website, http://biharboardonline.bihar.gov.in 2022.

Steps to check Result

After introduction of Aadhar card government given many deadlines to link aadhar with PAN but the deadlines are extended every time in lieu public interest and then due to the covid pandemic.

Now rather to extend due date government is set to penalize citizens who will not link their aadhar with PAN within current deadline which is 31^st March 2022.

Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT) in its Notification number 17/2022 dated 29-03-2022 notifies penalty for not linking aadhar with PAN in two phased manner as under;

The extract of the notification can be read here as under;

In exercise of the powers conferred by sections 139AA and 234H read with section 295 of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961), the Central Board of Direct Taxes hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Income-tax Rules, 1962, namely: ‒

1. Short title and commencement: - (1) These rules may be called the Income-tax (Third Amendment) Rules, 2022.

(2) They shall come into force from the 1st day of April, 2022.

2. In the Income-tax Rules, 1962 (herein after referred to as principal rules), in rule 114, after sub-rule

5, the following sub-rule shall be inserted, namely: —

“(5A) Every person who, in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 139AA, is

required to intimate his Aadhaar number to the prescribed authority in the prescribed form and manner, fails to do so by the date referred to in the said sub-section, shall, at the time of subsequent intimation of his Aadhaar number to the prescribed authority, be liable to pay, by way of fee, an amount equal to, —

1. five hundred rupees, in a case where such intimation is made within three months from the date referred to in sub-section (2) of section 139AA; and
2. one thousand rupees, in all other cases.”.

3. In the Principal rules, in rule 114AAA, —

(a) in sub-rule(1), for the figures “2020”, the figures “2022” shall be substituted;

(b) after sub-rule (2), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

The decision to ensure seamless import of these pulses to augment the domestic availability and ensure affordable rates for consumers

In yet another proactive and pre-emptive measure to augment domestic availability and stabilize prices of essential food commodities, the Centre today notified the decision to keep the import of Tur and Urad under ‘Free category’ till March 31, 2023.

The decision has put to rest the speculations regarding the import policy regime for Tur and Urad in the coming financial year (2022-23) and it also signals a stable policy regime which will benefit all the stakeholders.  The measure will ensure seamless import of these pulses to augment the domestic availability. It is expected that sufficient availability of these pulses will make them available to the consumer at affordable prices.

The Government had allowed the import of Tur, Urad, and Moong under the ‘Free category’ w.e.f May 15, 2021, till October 31, 2021, in order to ensure smooth and seamless imports. The Free regime in respect of import of Tur and Urad was thereafter extended till March 31, 2022. This policy measure has been supported with facilitation measures and close monitoring of its implementation by the concerned Departments/organization.

As per the official statistics of the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), the All India Average Retail Price of Tur Dal as reported on 28.03.2022 is Rs.102.99 per kilogram, which is a drop of 2.4% from the price of Rs. 105.46 per kilogram on 28.03.2021. The All India Average Retail Price of Urad Dal as reported on 28.03.2022 is Rs. 104.3 per kilogram, which is 3.62% less than the price of Rs.108.22 per kilogram on 28.03.2021.