Have you linked your PAN to your Aadhaar yet? If you haven’t, you’d better hurry up and do it as the last date to do this is 31st August 2019!
Before we talk about anything else, let’s understand what PAN and Aadhaar are.
What is a PAN?
PAN or Permanent Account Number is a number that has been issued by the Income Tax Department to income taxpayers. The purpose of this document is to track financial transactions which are subject to taxes and also to prevent tax evasion.
Additional Reading: How to apply for a PAN card
What is Aadhaar?
Aadhaar is a unique identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to residents of India after a verification process. Demographic and biometric information need to be provided when enrolling for Aadhaar.
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What’s all this about?
Now that you have some idea of what PAN and Aadhaar are, if you’re a taxpayer or intend to make high-value transactions, you’ll also be interested to know that the Government, in the Union Budget 2019, has said that Aadhaar and PAN can be used interchangeably to file your IT returns. To this end, your PAN and Aadhaar must be linked. There is also a proposal to place the responsibility of checking the authenticity of the document (PAN or Aadhaar) on the receiver of the document.
Right now, there are around 400 million PAN cards in India. Out of these, 180 million have not been linked to Aadhaar. The Central Board of Direct Taxes had extended the date to link Aadhaar and PAN to 31st August but as of 1st April, it has been made mandatory to quote, as well as link, Aadhaar to PAN while filing taxes.
Additional Reading: How To Link Your Aadhaar And PAN To File IT Returns
Things to be aware of:
- If your Aadhaar and PAN are linked, you will continue to have the same PAN
- PANs which are not linked to Aadhaar by 31st August 2019 will be deactivated
- If your PAN has been deactivated, you will need to quote your Aadhaar when filing your taxes
- If you use your Aadhaar to file your taxes and it hasn’t been linked to your PAN or you don’t have a PAN, a virtual PAN will be created for you
We’re sure you have a lot of questions about this and we’re right here to answer them. Here goes.
Is anyone who files tax returns exempt from linking PAN and Aadhaar?
No. If you want to file your taxes, you will need the two to be linked. If you don’t link them, and use your Aadhaar to file, a virtual PAN will be created and automatically linked to your Aadhaar. You can download and use this and it will be your PAN in the future.
What if I don’t have an Aadhaar?
If you don’t have an Aadhaar, it’s simple – you need to get one.
Here’s some help – How to get an Aadhaar Card
I have a PAN but I don’t plan to link it to my Aadhaar. What will happen?
Any PANs that are not linked to Aadhaar will be suspended. Once the linking is done, they will be reactivated.
Why is the Government doing this?
The reasoning behind this move to link PAN and Aadhaar is to eliminate those PAN cards that are not genuine. The Revenue Secretary A B Pandey said, “If you have not linked PAN card with Aadhaar even after repeated extensions, the question is whether those PAN cards are even genuine in the first place. Therefore, we will block or invalidate those till the time they are linked with Aadhaar.”
That’s the latest in a nutshell. And while we’re on the topic, did you know that you can use your Aadhaar as an ID document when applying for a Personal Loan, Home Loan, Car Loan or Credit Card? If you’re looking for one, BankBazaar is the way to go. Just hit the button below.