From PAN-Aadhaar linking to planning your tax savings — Key personal finance deadlines in March 2023

March 2023 is significant from a personal finance point of view as there are some important tasks to be completed in the month ranging from PAN-Aadhaar linking to planning taxes. Missing on these means you would have to pay penalties or face other consequences. Let's take a look at them:

The Income Tax department has made it mandatory to link permanent account number (PAN) with Aadhaar by March 31, 2023. It added that the unlinked PAN will become inoperative from April 1, 2023. While the deadline to link the two without any fine has ended, taxpayers can do the same by paying a fine of Rs 1,000.

This can be done on the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) portal by paying the amount under Challan No. ITNS 280 with Major head 0021 (Income Tax Other than Companies) and Minor head 500 (Other Receipts).

Users should note that while income tax returns can be filed even without linking the two, the department does not process the returns until PAN and Aadhaar are linked.

The deadline to file updated income tax return (ITR) for FY 2019-20 is March 31, 2023. So, taxpayers who missed filing it for the said financial year or may have missed reporting any income can file an updated ITR or ITR-U. The Finance Act of 2022 introduced the concept of updated returns to allow a longer duration for an assessee to file the return of income.

An updated return can be filed within 24 months (2 years) from the end of the relevant assessment year (subject to certain conditions). Hence, if taxpayers missed filing it for FY2019-20, they can do the same now till March 31.

The deadline for tax-saving investments for FY2022-23 will end on March 31, 2023. Tax planning is one of the important measures for financial planning as the main objective is to reduce tax liability and save more. The lesser tax one has to pay, the more disposable income one has. While taking advantage of tax-saving options available, one can save a significant amount of taxes.

The last date to pay final installment of advance tax payment for financial year 2022-2023 is March 15. On this date 100 percent of advance tax liability has to be paid by taxpayers. Any default in payment of advance tax is subject to penalties under sections 234B and 243C.

Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana, an insurance-cum-pension initiative to provide assured pensions to senior citizens in their retirement, is available for investments till March 31, 2023. Under this scheme, investors get a guaranteed pension at the rate of 7.4 percent for 10 years which can be between Rs 1,000 to Rs 9,250 per month.

The payment can be after a month, 3 months, 6 months, or after a year of investment.