Relax! PAN card won't be invalid if it's not linked with Aadhaar by July 1

After July 1, the linking of Aadhaar number-PAN number will become mandatory

One more day to go and linking Aadhaar number with permanent account number (PAN) will be mandatory. However, if you don't link your Aadhaar with PAN before July 1, your PAN will not become invalid. A number of queries and doubts has risen on the issue of Aadhaar-PAN linking in the wake of the government making it clear that Aadhaar will be a "must" for filing ITRs and obtaining a new PAN from July 1.

After July 1, the linking will become mandatory and the government may declare a date after which the PAN not linked to Aadhaar will become invalid. The government has not declared that date yet. 

The tax department has stated that in no case any PAN will be invalidated. 

But since the linking is mandatory from July 1, you will need to quote Aadhaar number in the application form for allotment of a new permanent account number and in the return of income.

According to PTI, a senior Income Tax Department official clarified that people who are not able to link their Aadhaar and Permanent Account Number (PAN) by July 1, will have the option to mention the UIDAI-provided number in the e-ITR and this will be considered a valid linking of the two unique numbers.

 Section 139AA, Income-tax Act says: "Every person who has been allotted permanent account number as on the 1st day of July, 2017, and who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number, shall intimate his Aadhaar number to such authority in such form and manner as may be prescribed, on or before a date to be notified by the Central Government in the Official Gazette: Provided that in case of failure to intimate the Aadhaar number, the permanent account number allotted to the person shall be deemed to be invalid and the other provisions of this Act shall apply, as if the person had not applied for allotment of permanent account number." 

Many taxpayers found the website crashing, some even panicked for not successfully linking Aadhaar number with PAN.

Two major concerns of taxpayers:

1. No PAN, which is not linked to Aadhaar, will be cancelled from July 1.

2. Any person who wants to e-file their ITRs will either have to have an Aadhaar number or the enrolment id to be mentioned in their ITR.

3. If Aadhaar credentials are not linked with PAN or mentioned in the ITR, then such a person will not be able to e-file

4. E-filing of ITR is mandatory for all individuals except whose income is less than Rs 5 lakh per annum and those who are above 80 years of age

Linking of your Aadhaar with your PAN is no longer a cumbersome exercise. 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 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'. 

In case of any minor mismatch in Aadhaar name provided, Aadhaar OTP (one-time password) will be required. The OTP will be sent on the registered mobile number in the Aadhaar database.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), till now, has linked over 2.16 crore Aadhaar numbers with its PAN database.

While Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to a resident of India, PAN is a ten-digit alphanumeric number allotted in the by the I-T Department to a person, firm or entity.

There are over 25 crore PAN numbers allotted, Aadhaar has been allotted to about 115 crore people.

ALSO READ: