How to link Aadhaar card with PAN card via SMS: Here is the complete process

Aadhaar card-PAN card link: If you pay income tax, you must link your PAN card with Aadhaar card by March 31, to enjoy income tax services without any problem. PAN is one of the most important financial documents issued by the Income Tax department under the supervision of Central Board of Direct Taxes. PAN card is also one of the most important financial documents in the country, and it also serves as a proof of an individual's identity. There are several ways to link Aadhaar with PAN card, and for getting it done, one can either visit e-filing portal or can also use SMS facility to link his/her PAN card with Aadhaar.

For using SMS facility to link Aadhaar card with PAN card, you should type UIDPAN<12-digit Aadhaar number><10 digit PAN> and send it to 567678. If there is a minor mismatch between PAN and Aadhaar, a One Time Password (OTP) is sent to the registered mobile number with Aadhaar. 

In certain situation i.e., where the name in Aadhaar is completely different from the name in PAN database, the linkage would fail. In such situation, PAN card holder should change his/her name either in Aadhaar or in PAN database or visit personally to a designated PAN application centre of NSDL e-Gov or UTIITSL for biometric Aadhaar authentication.

Notably, there is a certain category of people that is not mandated to link their PAN with Aadhaar. This exempted category includes individuals residing in the states of Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and Meghalaya; individuals who are non-resident; those individuals who are 80-year-old or above; and individuals who are not a citizen of India.

Those people who need to link their PAN card with Aadhaar card should visit the income tax e-filing website for the same. On the homepage, they should first locate 'Link Aadhaar' option and proceed to enter their Aadhaar number, PAN, name as per Aadhaar and Captcha code. 

Finally, they should click on 'Link Aadhaar' green button to link their Aadhaar with PAN card. 

Last year, the government closed or put 11.44 lakh PAN cards in the inactive category. After the deadline, March 31, if you are not able to link your PAN with Aadhaar, you may also face the same situation. 

The Income Tax Department will be issuing income tax e-refunds from March 1, 2019 onward in the bank accounts of only those individuals who have already linked their respective bank account number with the Permanent Account Number (PAN) card.

If you are not aware of that your bank account is linked with your PAN or not, just log in to the e-filing portal and go to 'Profile setting' option. Now select 'Pre-validate your bank account' and fill up all the details. 

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If your bank is integrated with the portal, the pre-validation will be done directly through EVC and net banking route.