Aadhaar-pan linking: 2 more days to go, govt unlikely to extend date

Two more days left to link Aadhaar with PAN as the income tax department is unlikely to extend the deadline beyond August 31.

Tax payers will have to link their PAN with Aadhaar by the stipulated deadline as the Supreme Court verdict on privacy has no bearing on the requirement, UIDAI CEO Ajay Bhushan Pandey said on the day the apex court pronounced the historic Right to Privacy ruling.

Earlier this month, the tax department had extended the deadline till August 31, but cautioned that returns would not be processed until the “linkage of Aadhaar with PAN is done“. The deadline was extended as there were complaints that taxpayers were unable to link the Aadhaar number with PAN because of different names in the two databases. According to The Economics Times, tax department said there was no move to extend the date now as enough time had been provided to link PAN and Aadhaar.

For your convenience, the tax department has introduced a one-page form for taxpayers to manually apply for linking their Aadhaar with Permanent Account Number (PAN), apart from the available online and SMS facilities.

"The form is just another procedure, via the paper medium, to link the Aadhaar with the PAN database," a tax department official said.

An individual will have to mention both PAN and Aadhaar numbers, the spelling of the names mentioned on them and give a signed declaration that the Aadhaar number provided in the application form has "not been provided" by them for the purpose of linking it with "any other PAN". 

The government, under the Finance Act 2017, has made it mandatory for taxpayers to quote Aadhaar or enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form for filing of Income-Tax returns (ITR). According to the government, "the uniqueness of Aadhaar helps in elimination of duplicates and fakes from any beneficiary database, which is what makes it suitable for eliminating fake PANs as well."

How to link Aadhaar-PAN

Linking Aadhaar number to PAN number is quite simple. You can do so by logging on to the website of PAN service providers like NSDL and UTIITSL, by personally visiting a PAN service centre or over the e-filing website of the tax department.

How to apply via paper:

* Mention both PAN and Aadhaar numbers

* Write names mentioned on them

* Give a signed declaration

1. Aadhaar number provided in the application form has "not been provided" by for the purpose of linking it with "any other PAN".

2. I have "not been allotted any other PAN than the one mentioned" on the form.

3. "I understand that complete security and confidentiality shall be ensured for my personal identity data provided for the purpose of Aadhaar-based authentication

You can do it by just an SMS. Your mobile number and e-mail id will help you receive alerts related to your Aadhaar and to access Aadhaar services easily. The Income Tax Department earlier this month issued advertisements and described how both the unique identity numbers of an individual can be linked by sending an SMS to either 567678 or 56161.

Here is how you can use the SMS facility to link Aadhaar with PAN

Send SMS to 567678 or 56161 in following format:

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

Example:

UIDPAN 111133333321 AAAAAEEEEE

People can also visit the official e-filing website of the department to link the two identities, in both the cases-- identical names in the two databases or in a case where there is a minor mismatch.

Linking the two numbers is the key to "seamlessly avail online, a world of income tax facilities", the I-T department said.

"Aadhaar can also be seeded into PAN database by quoting Aadhaar in PAN application form for new PAN allotment or by quoting Aadhaar in change request form used for reprint of PAN card," it said in the advertisement.

How to link your Aadhaar to PAN online:

1. Log on to incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. (This step is not compulsory. You can directly jump to Step 2, if you do not wish to log in)

2. Click on 'Link Aadhaar' 

3. A pop up window will appear. Enter your Aadhaar number, PAN number and name as per Aadhaar 

4. Enter captcha and click on 'Link Aadhaar'.