The Finance Act, 2017 has made it mandatory to quote your Aadhaar number while filing your income tax return with effect from 1 July 2017. For this purpose, you need to link your Aadhaar with the permanent account number (PAN). However, many were finding it difficult to link Aadhaar with PAN, due to details mismatching on these two documents. In order to solve this problem, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come out with a simple solution.
Link your Aadhaar
Minor discrepancies like different names in the two documents—say names with initials in one and expanded initials in another —were earlier creating problems. This has now been solved.
To link your Aadhaar with PAN, just go to the e-filing website and click on the tab ‘Link Aadhaar’ on the left-hand side of the website. First, fill out your PAN and Aadhaar number; then enter your name exactly as mentioned in Aadhaar and then submit it. After verification of details from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the linking will be confirmed.
However, if there is any minor mismatch in your Aadhaar name, a one-time password (OTP) will be sent to your Aadhaar-registered mobile number. Make sure that the date of birth and gender in PAN and Aadhaar are exactly the same. There is no need to even login or be registered on the e-filing website.
If you are already registered on the e-filing website, you can link your Aadhaar after logging-in to the e-filing website. Just click on the Aadhaar linking option under profile settings. The details as per PAN will be pre-populated and you only need to enter your Aadhaar number and name exactly as mentioned in Aadhaar. Once you link your Aadhaar with PAN, you will be able to e-verify your income tax return using OTP sent to your mobile.
{{/usCountry}}If you are already registered on the e-filing website, you can link your Aadhaar after logging-in to the e-filing website. Just click on the Aadhaar linking option under profile settings. The details as per PAN will be pre-populated and you only need to enter your Aadhaar number and name exactly as mentioned in Aadhaar. Once you link your Aadhaar with PAN, you will be able to e-verify your income tax return using OTP sent to your mobile.
{{/usCountry}}If your Aadhaar name is completely different from your name in PAN, then the linking will fail and the taxpayer will be prompted to change the name in either Aadhaar or PAN database.
Making corrections in PAN and Aadhaar
In case you want to make corrections in your PAN or Aadhaar, you can do so by going to National Securities Depository Ltd (NSDL) website and UIDAI portal, respectively.