9.3 Crore PAN cards linked with Aadhaar: Last date August 31; here’s how to do it

Even as the deadline for linking Aadhaar card with Permanent Account Number (PAN) has been extended to August 31, at least 9.3 crore people completed the procedure before previous deadline of July 31. 

More than 9.3 crore Permanent Account Numbers (PAN) have been linked with Aadhaar, a senior Income Tax Department officer said.

Of the total PAN-Aadhaar seeding, which is nearly 30 per cent of the total about 30 crore PAN holders, about three crore linkages were done in June and July.

“By August 5, which was the last date for filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs), over 9.3 crore PAN-Aadhaar linkages have been registered by the I-T department,” he said.

According to the officer, the tally is expected to grow as the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy-making body of the department, has already extended the last date for linking the two unique numbers till August 31.

The government had made the PAN-Aadhaar linking mandatory for filing ITR and obtaining a new Permanent Account Number (PAN) from July 1.

The CBDT has said that for the purpose of e-filing of returns (by August 5), it would be sufficient to quote Aadhaar or acknowledgement number of having applied for Aadhaar, on the e-filing website of the department.

Also read: Aadhaar-PAN linking: Income Tax Department introduces single page form for taxpayers

“The actual linking of PAN with Aadhaar can be done subsequently, but any time before August 31, 2017,” the CBDT had said.

It had also cautioned taxpayers that ITRs would not be processed “until the linkage of Aadhaar with PAN is done”.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had recently informed the Lok Sabha that the government has not fixed any time frame to complete the linking of Aadhaar with PAN.

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

The Supreme Court had in June upheld the validity of an Income Tax Act provision making Aadhaar mandatory for allotment of PAN cards and ITR filing, but had put a partial stay on its implementation till a Constitution bench addressed the issue of right to privacy.

The CBDT had on June 10 said that the apex court’s order had only given a “partial relief” to those who did not have an Aadhaar or an Aadhaar enrolment ID, and the taxman, hence, “will not cancel” the PAN of such individuals.

While Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to a resident of India, PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number alloted by the I-T department to a person, firm or entity.

There are about 30 crore PAN numbers allotted, while Aadhaar has been alloted to about 115 crore people.

Also read: PAN-Aadhaar linking deadline set at Aug 31, ITR returns cannot be processed until linkage

How to link Aaadhaar with PAN:

Online: 

Visit www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and click on the link on the left pane: Link Aadhaar. Provide the PAN and Aadhaar numbers, enter your name exactly as given in the Aadhaar card press enter. You will get a confirmation message that your two documents have been linked. 

SMS

Alternatively, you can link Aadhaar number and PAN through SMS. To do so, send an SMS from your registered mobile number to 567678 or 56161 in the following format.

UIDPAN<12 digit Aadhaar><10 digit PAN>

Example: UIDPAN 123456789012 ABCDE1234F

In case of different name/spelling on Aadhar and PAN 

In the case of any minor mismatch in the provided name with that of the actual data in the UIDAI database, an Aadhaar OTP (One Time Password) will be sent to your registered mobile number. However, the date of birth and gender in PAN and Aadhaar should exactly be the same.

But if names are completely different then you must visit National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) website and UIDAI (AAdhaar) portal to change the name in one of the documents. 

Also read: Linking Aadhaar with PAN mandatory from today: Here's how to do it

In case of no Aadhar card

Supreme Court, in this case, has provided relief to people who do not have Aadhar at the moment. "Only a partial relief by the court has been given to those who do not have Aadhaar and who do not wish to obtain Aadhaar for the time being, that their PAN will not be cancelled so that other consequences under the I-T Act for filing to quote PAN may not arise," said CBDT in its circular.

Note: The court does not provide any relief to those who already have both PAN and Aadhaar. You will have to link both.