IT department clarifies why PAN cards of some NRIs were made inoperative

The Income Tax Department (ITD) has clarified that the PAN cards of NRIs who have not met the following two criteria have been made inoperative:

1. Filed an income tax return in India in any of the last three years.
2. intimated their residential status to the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO).

The ITD has also offered a solution to fix the issue. NRIs whose PANs have been made inoperative can update their residential status on the income tax website or submit a letter to their JAO along with supporting documents. Once they have updated their residential status, their PAN card will be reactivated.

Clarification made by the ITD on their official Twitter handle is as follows

Dear Taxpayers,

Concerns have been raised by certain NRIs/ OCIs regarding their PANs becoming inoperative, although they are exempted from linking their PAN with Aadhaar. Further, PAN holders, whose PANs have been rendered inoperative due to non-linking of PAN with Aadhaar, have expressed concern over certain consequences of PAN becoming inoperative. In this context, the following clarifications may be noted:

1. ITD has mapped the residential status of NRIs in case they have filed the ITR in any of the last 3 AYs or they have intimated their residential status to the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO). The PANs have been rendered inoperative, in case any one of the above-mentioned criteria is not met.

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. Details of JAO can be found at - https://eportal.incometax.gov.in/iec/foservices/#/pre-login/knowYourAO

2. The PANs of OCIs/foreign citizens, who may have applied for PAN under resident status and have not corrected/updated their residential status to the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) or have not filed ITR in any of the last 3 AYs, have been rendered inoperative. 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. Details of JAO can be found at - https://eportal.incometax.gov.in/iec/foservices/#/pre-login/knowYourAO

3. It is clarified that an inoperative PAN is not an inactive PAN. One may file the Income Tax Return (ITR), irrespective of PAN becoming inoperative.

Only following are the consequences of ‘inoperative’ PAN:

i. Pending refunds and interest on such refunds will not be issued to inoperative PANs.

ii. TDS will be required to be deducted at a higher rate for inoperative PANs in accordance with section 206AA.

iii. TCS will be required to be collected at a higher rate for inoperative PANs in accordance with section 206CC.

Kindly refer to the CBDT Notification No.15/2023 dated 28th March, 2023 for details: https://incometaxindia.gov.in/communications