5 things you need to know before you link your PAN card to Aadhaar

The deadline to link the two has been extended to March 31, 2020

The Income Tax department has extended the deadline for you to link your PAN card to the Aadhaar to March 31 this year. This is the eighth time the deadline has been extended. (Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times)

The Income Tax department has extended the deadline for you to link your PAN card to the Aadhaar to March 31 this year. This is the eighth time the deadline has been extended. After the Supreme Court announced its verdict about the Aadhaar in 2018, the 12-digit identification number is mandatory for filing your income tax returns and also to acquire a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card.

If you already have a PAN card, you have to link the two together. And here are the rules about how to do that explained:

1) If you are applying for a new PAN card, it is compulsory that you quote Aadhaar in your application form and post that you can use your Aadhaar number wherever PAN is required. PAN and Aadhaar numbers are interchangeable. For those applying for a new PAN card, the interlinking is done automatically when you apply.

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2) For existing PAN card holders, it is mandatory that you link it with Aadhaar within the last date. That is March 31. The linking can be done on the income tax department's e-filing portal or simply by sending an SMS. You can also check the status of your linking online.

3) Many taxpayers are yet to link their Aadhaar with their PAN card and the deadline has now been extended for the eighth time. The last date of December 31, 2019 has now been extended to March 31, 2020.

4) Aadhaar is necessary for any other document that you might need to procure, like your passport or a voter ID card and it is also required if you are going to buy property or vehicles.

5) Once the deadline to link the PAN card and Aadhaar is over, the income tax department will start treating all unlinked PAN cards as "inoperative" ones. This means that you will not be able to file income tax returns nor use it as ID proof anywhere.