CBDT directs Taxpayers to Link Aadhaar with PAN using SMS

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) today directed taxpayers to link their Aadhaar with their PAN, using an SMS-based facility.

The Income Tax department today 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.

The advertisement said that, people can also visit the official e-filing website of the department to link the two identities, in both the cases- identical names in the two databases or in case where there is a minor mismatch.

"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," said in the advertisement.

With a view to simplify the process of linking Aadhaar Card to the Permanent Account Number (PAN), which is a mandatory procedure for filing IT returns now, the IT department had launched a new e-facility in their e-filing website in earlier this month.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 Finance Ministry has earlier introduced PAN has mandatory for taxpayers to quote Aadhaar or enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form for filing of Income-Tax returns (ITR).

The Government also introduced Aadhaar has been made mandatory for applying for permanent account number with effect from July 1, 2017.