Link Your PAN to Aadhar

Link Your PAN to Aadhar
By CS Jay Kular ANS Articles March 18, 2022

Link Aadhar to PAN

The government has been strongly advising people to link their Aadhaar cards to their PAN cards online in recent times. The deadline for linking your Aadhaar with a PAN card has been extended until the end of March this year{2022}. As investors and tax assessors, it’s important to keep in mind two things.

 To start with, how do I link my Aadhaar Card with PAN online? 

And secondly, how does linking my Aadhaar Card with my PAN card help me?

What is PAN?

PAN, as we know, is a tax identification number issued by the Income Tax Department. It is needed not just for filing your taxes but for a variety of other activities as well, such as purchasing property, taking out a loan, open bank accounts, Demat accounts, etc.

What is Aadhaar?

Aadhaar is a more recent initiative where UIDAI has attempted to issue a biometric identity card to every Indian, therefore, more secure than the former. You need to link your Aadhar card and PAN card electronically so that you can file your Income Tax returns in the future.

Unless the taxpayer is allowed under particular conditions, it is important to link your Aadhaar with your PAN when filing ITRs.

The following are a few examples of such circumstances:

  1. NRIs, POIs, OCIs, etc., Those who conduct business in India do not require an Aadhaar card &  PAN to be linked.
  2. Foreign citizens living in India are not required to link their PANs to their Aadhaar cards.
  3. In addition, residents of Assam, Meghalaya, and Jammu&Kashmir are prohibited from linking the two documents.
  4. People over 80 years of age are also prohibited from linking the two documents.

1st Method  (Online Linking)

Linking Aadhaar with PAN card via the e-filing website

  • Go to the ITR filing website. –incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/home
  • Go to the homepage’s quick links and select LINK AADHAAR.
  • Enter your Aadhaar number 
  • Enter your PAN number.
  • Enter your name (As per Aadhar Card)
  • Enter your mobile phone number
  • Choose ‘I have only year of birth on my Aadhaar card’. (This option is only available to those who have the year only on their card )
  • You will then receive a Captcha code for verification. If you prefer,  you can also request an OTP. 

2nd Method: Offline Linking via SMS

NSDL eGovernance Infrastructure Limited and UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited (UTIITL) both offer SMS

 services for linking Aadhar cards and PAN cards. You can use either of them to send the SMS.

The SMS must be sent in the format UIDPAN*SPACE> *12-digit Aadhaar>*SPACE>*10-digit PAN> For example, if your Aadhaar number is 111155559999 and your PAN is ABCPA4321R. The SMS to 567678 or 56161 should be sent as shown below:

UIDPAN 111155559999 ABCPA4321R

3rd Method: Linking Manually via Annexure I Form

  1. If you are unable to resolve the mismatch between PAN and Aadhaar digitally, you may opt to manually link the two cards by filling up Annexure-I. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also provided a manual method to ease taxpayers’ concerns.
  2. You need to visit a PAN service center like NSDL or UTIITSL. You must complete the form 

Annexure -I and submit required documents such as a copy of your PAN card and Aadhaar card.

  1. Unlike online services, this service is not free. PAN corrections cost Rs 110, while Aadhaar corrections cost Rs 25. If there is a significant  difference  between the two, the authorities may request biometric  verification

What are the benefits of linking the Aadhaar card to the PAN card?

  • Multiple PAN cards will automatically be eliminated since Aadhaar is linked to your unique biometric identification (a unique fingerprint).
  • Thus, through this mechanism, the government can track all transactions, purchases of assets, and expenses incurred by an individual. This will significantly lead to the stoppage of tax evasion since many of your key transactions will be tracked.
  • The government would be able to establish a systematic and efficient surveillance system by integrating these databases, which will largely be fuelled by technology.
  • This linking benefits individuals as well.
  • The linkage will provide a complete audit trail for the Income Tax department.
  • This is the key to plugging revenue leaks.
  • Due to a lack of audit trail in the economy, black money is generated in large amounts. Since the distribution of Aadhar cards is larger than that of PAN cards, more people who have evaded taxes will become tax-paying citizens and the tax base will increase.
  • From the perspective of the government, multiple PAN cards will prove to be very troublesome as the spread of incomes across fictitious PAN cards has been one of the main tools for evading taxes. Thus, another major loophole in the tax system will be closed.
  • You have been complaining for too long that other people get away with not paying taxes while you do. Once the PAN-Aadhar link is done, this will be much reduced.
  • The government will be able to broaden its tax base and pass these benefits on to you in the form of lower taxes.
  • The new regulations will make it impossible for you to file returns until your PAN card is mapped to your Aadhar card.
  • However, leaving the regulatory aspect aside, you will also get a single view of all your transactions through your IT login.
  • Firstly, it is a requirement for filing tax returns using your PAN card identification.
  • Currently, we are required to authenticate our tax returns with either a physical signature or a fingerprint.
  • If your Aadhaar card and PAN card are already mapped, you can authenticate your return filing through your Aadhaar card itself, fastening the process.
  • In fact, your refunds will also be quicker if your Aadhaar card and PAN card are mapped.If your Aadhaar card and PAN card are linked, you can easily do know your client (e-KYC) online with ease. It is only possible to open a zero-balance account if your Aadhaar card and PAN card are linked.
  • Thanks to your Aadhaar and PAN card linkage, you can open a bank account electronically. The zero-balance account only requires the mapping of your Aadhaar card and PAN card, and everything else is taken care of.

In the long term, both individual taxpayers and the government should benefit massively! 

Click HERE to Link

Source: https://portal.incometaxindiaefilling.gov.in/

 

 

CS Jay Kular / About Author
Jay Kular. LLB, CS is currently working as company secretary & compliance officer at Ajay Natvarlal Group. He has been handling our compliance department since 5 years.
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