PAN is a unique number issued to individuals and businesses for tax purposes. However, all Indian residents need to have a unique 12-digit Aadhaar number. The income tax (I-T) department has made linking PAN and Aadhaar cards mandatory to ease financial transactions.
The individuals who are exempt from linking Aadhaar-PAN linkage are:
Residents of the states of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya; non-residents as per the I-T Act, 1961; persons aged 80 and above at any time during the previous year; and those who are not citizens of India.
However, individuals falling in any of the above category, who voluntarily desires to link Aadhaar with PAN, are not required to pay a fee. Also, you must keep in mind that the exemptions provided are subject to modifications depending on subsequent.
So, if you want to link or check whether your PAN-Aadhaar is already linked, visit the Income Tax e-filing portal.https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/. On the website, look at the top-left screen and see ‘Quick Links’. Click on the second or third tab: Link Aadhaar Status or Link Aadhaar, respectively, as per your requirement.
Checking PAN-Aadhaar linking status: You will be asked to enter your 10-digit PAN number and 12-digit Aadhaar number. Then click on View Link at the bottom of the page. If both are already linked, you will see a pop-up window saying that your PAN and Aadhaar number are linked. Click on ‘Close’ to exit the window.
However, if both are not linked, you will need to complete the necessary steps to link the two by going back to the ‘Quick Links’ and then clicking on ‘Link Aadhaar’ and going ahead and linking both numbers.
The second way to check your PAN-Aadhaar linking status is via SMS. To do so, you must send an SMS to 567678 or 56161. You must write UIDPAN in the text. In other words, you need to type your Aadhaar number, then a space, then your PAN number. Once you do so, you will get an update on the PAN-Aadhaar linkage status.
