Linking PAN-Aadhaar A Must For I-T Returns, Says Supreme Court: How To Do It

The Supreme Court has upheld a provision in the Income Tax Act making it mandatory for Aadhaar number to be linked with PAN card but only for those who already possess an Aadhaar card. While those who do not have an Aadhaar card yet will face no consequenses, those who have already been assigned an Aadhaar ID must use it for their income tax return (ITR) filing and link it to their PAN card. The Income Tax department has stepped up its efforts to encourage assessees to link their PAN or permanent account number with Aadhaar.

Urging the taxpayers to link Aadhaar with PAN as soon as possible, an email from the Income Tax Department's e-filing team reads: "This (linking of Aadhaar and PAN) will be useful for E-Verification of Income Tax returns using Aadhaar OTP (One-Time Password)."

Here are few things to know:

PAN-Aadhaar linking online

The income tax department's e-filing website - incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in - has hosted a new link on its homepage to link PAN and Aadhaar - the two unique identities.

In its email to assessees, the Income Tax Department's e-filing team mentioned a new feature available on the website incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in that does not require a user to register or login. This feature can be used by anyone to link their Aadhaar with PAN, it said.
How to do it

Once you are on the Income Tax Department's e-filing website, you need to spot and click on the new 'Link Aadhaar' hyperlink provided on the left hand side.
Then provide PAN, Aadhaar No. and name in the respective fields and hit 'Submit'. "ENTER NAME EXACTLY AS GIVEN IN AADHAAR CARD (avoid spelling mistakes) and submit. After verification from UIDAI, the linking will be confirmed," the Income Tax Department said in the email.

Please ensure that the date of birth and gender in PAN and Aadhaar are exactly same, the taxman said.

The facility compares the names given in the Aadhaar and PAN through a validation process. "In a rare case where Aadhaar name is completely different from name in PAN, then the linking will fail and taxpayer will be prompted to change the name in either Aadhaar or in PAN database."

The Income Tax Department has said that the process of linking PAN with Aadhaar has been made easy for taxpayers, citing reports "that taxpayers were finding it difficult as their names did not match in both systems (E.g. Names with initials in one and expanded initials in another). Responding to such grievances, the Dept (Income Tax Department) has come out with a simple solution now."

"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," the taxman said in the advertisement.

The link requires a person to punch in his or PAN number, Aadhaar number and the exact name as given in the Aadhaar card. "After verification from the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), the linking will be confirmed," it noted.

"In case of any minor mismatch in Aadhaar name provided, Aadhaar OTP (one time password) will be required," the department had said in its advisory to taxpayers and individuals.

PAN-Aadhaar linking via SMS

The Income Tax Department has also urged taxpayers to link their Aadhaar with Permanent Account Numbers using an SMS-based facility.

As per an advertisement by the tax department, Aadhaar - a 12-digit number issued by Unique Identification Authority of India or UIDAI based on the demographic and biometric information of the person - can be linked with PAN by sending an SMS to 567678 or 56161.

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.

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.