Just need an SMS to link Aadhaar to PAN

The Income Tax Department urged taxpayers on Wednesday to link their Aadhaar with their Permanent Account Number (PAN), using an SMS-based facility.

The department issued advertisements in leading national dailies and described how both the unique identity numbers of an individual can be linked by sending an SMS to either 567678 or 56161. It said people can also visit the official e-filing website of the department to link the two identities, in both the cases of having identical names in the two databases or in case where there is a minor mismatch. The advertisement said linking the two numbers is the key to "seamlessly avail online, a world of income tax facilities."

"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," it said in the advertisement.

The advertisement comes at a time when the Supreme Court will soon hear various petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar and also on making the unique identity mandatory for availing benefits of various social welfare schemes provided by the government, on June 27. The Income-Tax Department had, early this month, also launched a new e-facility to link a person's Aadhaar with the PAN, a mandatory procedure for filing I-T returns now.

The department's e-filing website has hosted a new link on its homepage to link the two unique identities. The link requires a person to punch in his 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. "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.

The OTP will be sent on the registered mobile number in the Aadhaar database. The government, under 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 (ITR).

Also, Aadhaar has been made mandatory to apply for permanent account number with effect from July 1, 2017. While Aadhaar is issued by the UIDAI to a resident of India, PAN is a ten-digit alphanumeric number issued in the form of a laminated card by the I-T department to any person, firm or entity.