How to link PAN with Aadhaar: Pan Invalid If not done by Dec 31st!

The Income Tax Department recently announced that it is mandatory to link your Aadhaar with your PAN before December 31^st 2019. The earlier deadline was September 30^th. Your Pan will become invalid if you do not link! Here is how you can link Pan with Aadhaar.

About the author: Anjesh Bharatiya is a 30+ taxman by profession and a Chemical Engineer by education. He has been an investor in the stock market since age 15! He likes to write about personal finance, stock markets, government policies, taxation, philosophy and football.

Section 139AA(2) of the Income Tax Act requires that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the Income Tax Department.

If you fail to link your PAN and Aadhaar and the Government does not extend the deadline, your PAN may become inoperative causing difficulties in the filing of income tax returns (quoting and linking Aadhaar is mandatory while filing of return). PAN is also required for availing many other services like opening bank accounts, making property transactions etc. and you won’t be able to do any of these with your PAN inoperative.

Steps to link PAN with Aadhaar

If you are already registered on the Department’s e-filing portal:

1. Log in to your e-filing account
2. Go to the ‘Link Aadhaar’ option in the ‘Profile Settings’ menu.
3. Fill in your PAN, Aadhaar number, name, date of birth etc. Mark ‘I have the only year of birth in Aadhaar card’ if you have only the birth year on the Aadhaar.
4. Click on ‘Link Aadhaar’. An OTP will be sent to your registered mobile number.
5. Input the OTP and your Aadhaar will be linked to your Pan successfully.

Sometimes, the Aadhaar-Pan linking may fail in the following cases:

1. Mismatch in the spelling or different placements of the middle and last name in the PAN and Aadhaar card.
2. A discrepancy in the date of birth
3. Gender mismatch

In any of the above scenarios, the mismatch needs to be corrected before you can proceed with the Aadhaar Pan linkage. For correction in PAN details, visit the following link and follow the instructions: Online Application for Request for New PAN Card Or/ And Changes Or Correction in PAN Data

For correction in Aadhaar details, refer the following link: Aadhaar Update Service

Once a request for correction is lodged, it may take up to 15 days for the corrected Aadhaar/Pan card to reach you. In that case, you can only hope that the Government again extends the deadline for the Aadhaar PAN linkage.

If you are not registered on the Department’s e-filing portal:

You can either get yourself registered or follow the following steps:

1. Click on ‘Link Aadhaar’ on the e-filing website homepage
2. Fill in the form shown below
3. Once you fill in the form, your Aadhaar and PAN should be successfully linked. In case of failure due to mismatch, refer the steps detailed in the previous section.

How to link Aadhaar with Pan via SMS

To link PAN and Aadhaar through SMS, the name and the registered mobile number should be the same for both the documents. Send an SMS in the following format to either 567678 or 56161:

UIDPAN<SPACE><12 digit Aadhaar><Space><10 digit PAN>

e.g. UIDPAN 123123123123 ABCPD1111E

            After sending the SMS, you will receive a message if the linking is successful.

What is the reason behind the Aadhaar-PAN linkage push?

The Income Tax Department has recently unveiled a new ‘Project Insight’ that aims to leverage data from various sources to promote voluntary compliance, deter non-compliance, impart confidence and achieve fair and judicious tax administration. Since Aadhaar is now required or voluntarily submitted for everything from opening/operating a bank account, getting a SIM card, opening a demat account, becoming a Director in a Company etc., this linkage will help the tax administration in tracking tax evaders more efficiently. With increasing clamour asking for linking social media accounts with Aadhaar, this is another avenue from where the Income Tax Department may glean useful data to clamp down on tax offenders if any such linkage happens in the future.

Summary

Since the December 31^st deadline is fast approaching, it is imperative that you link your Aadhaar and PAN immediately. The Government may not extend the final date this time and if you are lax this time around, you may be left holding an invalid PAN card. Needless to say, getting a new PAN card and linking it to every bank account, mutual fund folio etc. is a headache best avoided.