The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had said that all Indian citizens must link their Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Aadhaar. If you don’t do the linking, you won’t be able to file your income tax return (ITR) and your PAN will become invalid. The cut-off date for this was earlier December 31, 2019, which was extended to March 31, 2020. Now post the coronavirus-lockdown, the last date has been extended again to June 30, 2020.
If you want to link your PAN with your Aadhaar number, there are three ways you can do this. One is using the SMS option; another is using the Income Tax website without logging into your account and one by logging into your account. Here are the steps for each of them.
Link PAN with Aadhaar using SMS
For this, you need to make sure that both the PAN and the Aadhaar are registered under the same name. There should be no difference in your name on both the documents. You need to make sure that the mobile number that you use to send the SMS is the same as the one registered for Aadhaar. You cannot use a number that is different from the registered mobile number.
Once you have these in place, open the messaging app on your mobile. Type UIDAI, put in a space and then type your 12-digit Aadhaar card number. Then, put in another space and give your alphanumeric PAN details. Send the message to 56161 or 567678. For instance, if your Aadhaar number is 108967552319, and your PAN is VWXY4574D, then you ned to type UIDAI 108967552319 VWXY4574D and send it to 56161 or 567678.
After sending the SMS, you will get a notification that your PAN-Aadhaar linking has been done successfully.
The other two ways to link your Aadhaar and your PAN is using the Income Tax Department of India’s website.
Link PAN with Aadhaar online using the Income Tax e-filing website
Without logging in
- Visit the Income Tax Site – incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
- Look at the left side of the home page under the ‘Quick Links’ section
- Click on ‘Link Aadhaar’
- Provide the details such as your PAN, Aadhaar number, and your name as mentioned on the Aadhaar card
- Tick the square below the details if only your birth year is mentioned on the Aadhaar card
- Enter the Captcha code. Note that the visually challenged users can request for a One Time Password (OTP) instead of the captcha code. The OTP will be sent on their registered mobile number
- Click on the ‘Link Aadhaar’ button
- Post verification from UIDAI the linking of your PAN and Aadhaar will be confirmed
Using your login
- Register yourself on the income tax e-filing portal or if you are already registered log in to the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department using your login ID, password and date of birth.
- After logging into the site, you will get a pop-up window that will prompt you to link your PAN with your Aadhaar number
- If you don’t see the pop-up, go to the top bar, you will find a blue tab named ‘Profile Settings’
- Click on ‘Link Aadhaar’ under named ‘Profile Settings’
- You don’t need to provide details as information such as your name, date of birth and gender will already be pre-filled as per the details you had submitted at the time of registration on the e-filing portal
- You need to verify if the details provided are matching with the ones mentioned on your Aadhaar card
- If the details are correct, provide your Aadhaar number
- Enter captcha code that is provided
- Then, click on the “Link now” button
- You will see a pop-up message informing you that your Aadhaar number has been successfully linked to your PAN.
What to watch out for?
In case there are any minor mismatches in the Aadhaar name provided, you will need the Aadhaar OTP. Apart from your name, please make sure that your date of birth and gender on your PAN and Aadhaar are exactly the same. If your Aadhaar name is completely different from name on your PAN, then the PAN-Aadhaar linking will fail. You will be prompted to change your name either on your Aadhaar or your PAN.
How to verify if your PAN has been linked to your Aadhaar?
If you have linked your PAN to your Aadhaar, you can check the link in two ways. One is using the Income Tax Department website and another is using SMS.
Verifying PAN-Aadhaar link using e-filing website:
- Visit the Income Tax India website page ‘Link Aadhaar Status’
- Provide your PAN and Aadhaar Number
- Click on ‘View Link Aadhaar Status’
- If your PAN and Aadhaar number are linked, you will get the message ‘Your PAN is linked to Aadhaar number XXXX XXXX XXXX’.
- The confirmation message will display only the last four digits of your Aadhaar number
Verifying PAN-Aadhaar link using SMS
To check the status of your PAN-Aadhaar linking using SMS, you need to send an SMS to 56161 or 567678 in the following format.
UIDPAN space your 12-digit Aadhaar number space your 10-digit PAN
If the PAN-Aadhaar linking has been done, you will get the SMS “Aadhaar…is already associated with PAN…in ITD database. Thank you for using our services.”
Did you know you can use your PAN/Aadhaar for investing in mutual funds? It’s very simple. Contact your Wealthzi.com consultant.
