Over the last few months, the Indian government and the income tax department have carried out a sustained campaign exhorting individuals to link their Aadhaar Card to their PAN card. While the Aadhaar card is a biometric identity card issued to each individual, the PAN card is used to identify your unique tax status. There are advantages of linking these two documents for the government and for the individual.
How the government benefits from the linking of Aadhaar card and PAN card?
The problem of individuals having multiple PAN cards still exists. However, since Aadhaar is linked to your unique biometric identification (unique fingerprint), the problem of multiple PAN cards will be automatically resolved. Hence, the government will be able to track all the transactions, asset purchases and expenses incurred by an individual through this linking. This will largely plug evasion of taxes as most of your key transactions will be tracked through this mechanism. That is expected to reduce the volume of black money in the economy. This linking will help the government to set up a meticulous and foolproof surveillance system, which will largely be a technology-driven. Since demonetisation has already underscored the move from a cash economy to a digital economy, the government can now track volumes of transactions through the effective use of mapping technology.
What are the benefits of linking the Aadhaar card to the PAN card?
For the individual also this linking proffers a variety of benefits. Firstly, this linking is a must for filing your returns under your PAN card identification. Currently, when you file your returns you are required to authenticate your returns either with a physical signature or through a digital signature or through a mapped bank account. By mapping your PAN card and Aadhaar card, you can authenticate your return filing through your Aadhaar card itself, making the task quicker. In fact, even your refunds will be hastened if your Aadhaar card and PAN card are already mapped. Today, when you open a trading account, the know your client (e-KYC) can be very easily done online and authenticated using your Aadhaar Card. That is possible only if your Aadhaar Card and PAN card are linked. Thanks to your Aadhaar and PAN card linkage, you can also open your bank account electronically. In fact, the zero balance account just requires your Aadhaar card and PAN card mapped to each other and the rest is taken care of.
In a nutshell, by linking your PAN to your Aadhaar card, you are able to establish the uniqueness of your PAN card. So you get the assurance of a unique PAN card and the government gets a de-duplicated PAN card database.
The March 13, 2018, Supreme Court order:
The government had earlier stated a deadline of March 31, 2018, for linking Aadhaar card to PAN. However, on March 13, the Supreme Court (SC) has extended the deadline for Aadhaar linking till the time the final order on the legal validity of Aadhaar is given by the SC. Nevertheless, this is just a matter of when rather than whether, and hence, it is advisable to complete the PAN linking with Aadhaar at the earliest.
THE GAINS
- You can authenticate your return filing through your Aadhaar card itself
- Refunds will be hastened if Aadhaar and PAN are mapped
The writer is head, research & ARQ, Angel Broking Pvt Ltd
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 "Linking Aadhaar card to PAN")
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