PAN card: What will happen if you don’t link it with Aadhaar this month

The income tax department has extended the deadline to link Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar to December 31. All PAN card holders are, therefore, required to link the two documents through online or via sms within this month. It is for the seventh time that the deadline has been extended.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is likely to declare all PAN cards that are not linked to Aadhaar as "invalid" or not in use. "In case of failure to intimate the Aadhaar number, PAN allotted to the person shall be deemed to be invalid and other provisions of this Act shall apply, as if the person had not applied for allotment of PAN," the income tax department said.

According to the Finance Bill, all such PAN cards not linked to Aadhaar will become "inoperative" after the deadline is over. However, there is a possibility that the income tax department might allow revival of such inoperative PAN cards later on after the linkage is done. Since there is no clarity on the revival clause, it is better to not take risk and link the two cards now.

Since the current law allows you to quote your Aadhaar number in lieu of PAN, you might be issued a new PAN card suo moto if you file income tax returns using an Aadhaar card which is not linked to PAN.

How to link PAN with Aadhaar:

PAN can be linked with Aadhaar through the income tax e-filing portal or through SMS. The e-filing portal has a "Link Aadhaar" section on the left side where you need to submit PAN, Aadhaar number and name as per Aadhaar to complete the process. The authentication is done through an OTP sent on your mobile phone.

Alternatively, you can also send an SMS to either 567678 or 56161 in the following format UIDPAN<SPACE><12 digit Aadhaar><Space><10 digit PAN.

In order to link Aadhaar with PAN, your name, gender and date of birth should be exactly the same in both documents.

In case of any minor mismatch in Aadhaar name when compared to the original data in Aadhaar, a one-time password (Aadhaar OTP) will be sent to the mobile registered with Aadhaar.

In a rare case where the name in Aadhaar card is completely different from the name mentioned in PAN, then the linking will fail and you will be prompted to change the name in either Aadhaar or in PAN database.