Representative image.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has upheld the validity of an Income Tax Act provision making it mandatory for Aadhaar card holders to quote Aadhaar number while filing tax returns and to link it to the Permanent Account Number.
The Income Tax department has made it simpler to link the two IDs and it is just a two-step process now. It can either be done on the official website of the I-T department or via SMS. Here are the steps:
Linking Aadhaar and PAN online
The income tax department’s website, https://www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/, has hosted a new link to link the two IDs.
On the left pane in the website, there is a header called ‘Link Aadhaar.’ Click on the header. It will take you to a page where one has to fill the details of the two IDs.
Fill in the PAN card number, Aadhaar card number and your name as given exactly in your Aadhaar card. Also ensure that the date of birth mentioned in the two IDs are exactly the same.
Click submit. After you click submit, UIDAI, the official website for Aadhaar will verify and validate the details and the linking will be confirmed.
In case of any minor mismatch in the name, one will get and OTP linked to the Aadhaar number. If the name is completely different, then the linking would fail and one would have to get the name changed in the database.
Linking Aadhaar and Pan via SMS
The Income Tax department had recently issued ads stating that one can link Aadhaar and Pan by sending an SMS to either 56161 or 567678.
To link the two IDs, send an SMS in the following format.
UIDPAN<12 digit Aadhaar number><10 digit PAN>.
While Aadhaar is issued by the UIDAI or Unique Identification Authority of India to residents, PAN is a ten-digit alphanumeric number issued in the form of a card by the Income Tax Department to a person, firm or entity.