PAN-Aadhaar linking: Here's why your PAN card will be useless if not linked with Aadhaar before March 31

PAN card, being one of the most important documents, is essential to file income tax. However, your PAN card could be of no use if you fail to follow the Supreme Court's 2018 order, which makes it mandatory to link Aadhaar with PAN Card. The government has set March 31 as the deadline to link Aadhaar with PAN. To avoid disconnection of PAN or face problem in filing the income tax, the government has asked every PAN card holder to link it with Aadhaar before March 31, 2019.

Earlier, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Sushil Chandra said the Income Tax department had so far issued 42 crore PAN cards, of which 23 crore had been linked with Aadhaar. "By linking with Aadhaar, we will know whether there are any duplicate PAN or not. And there are certain duplicate PANs... If it is not linked, we may cancel the PAN also," Chandra added.

The Supreme Court in September last year, while declaring the Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid, had said Aadhaar was mandatory to file I-T returns and issuance of PAN card. It also added Aadhaar was not necessarily required to open bank accounts and buy a mobile phone connection.

Also read: I-T dept moots doing away with mandatory quoting of father's name in PAN application

The linking of Aadhaar with PAN, which in turn is linked with a bank account, will also help the Income Tax Department to unearth tax frauds. The Aadhaar-PAN linking will also ensure the benefits of the government's welfare schemes are availed by eligible persons as many agencies are linked with Aadhaar.

How to link Aadhaar with PAN:

• Log into the incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in
• Click on 'Linking Aadhaar'. Another window should open, prompting you to link your PAN card with Aadhaar card
• Confirm information such as name, date of birth and gender with the details on your Aadhaar card
• Submit Aadhaar card number and enter the captcha code
• Click on the 'Link Aadhaar'
• A success message should show once it is linked

Edited by Manoj Sharma

Also read: Income Tax made easy: PAN card in 4 hours, pre-filled I-T forms on the anvil