As the new financial year 2021-22 begins from April 1, the government of India mentioned March 31 to be the last date for Indian citizens to link their Permanent Account Number (PAN) with the Aadhar Card.
Just like any other deadline, a lot of people have been waiting till the last date for another extension. However, as the new Income Tax rules come into being from April 1, there has been a compulsion in place to link one’s PAN with Aadhar number by March 31.
However, as the rush on the official website of Income Tax Department increased around 12.30pm, it led to the page crash, making people disappointed with the broken link. While the website has been restored now, a lot of people took to Twitter to share their anger over the issue.
It becomes mandatory to link the two identity cards as not doing so by March 31 will inactivate the PAN card, in addition to the condition of paying a fine of Rs 1,000. While one can link the documents later, it will attract a fine. This rule has come into existence after a new section has been inserted in the Finance Bill. This has led to panic among the users, who requested the Income Tax department to either extend the date or restore the website.
The previous deadline for linking PAN card with Aadhaar was June 30, 2020. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had in June 2020 issued a notification for extending the deadline for linking of Permanent Account Number (PAN) card with Aadhaar card. PAN card holders also must take note that if their PAN card is not linked with Aadhaar card by 31 March, then it will become inoperative.
Government has made access to several important documents available from the comfort of people’s homes in the wake of COVID-19. If you have not yet linked your Aadhaar card with PAN, you can follow the process online.
- 1. In order to link PAN and Aadhaar cards, tax payers have to first register on the Income tax e-Filing portal
- 2. Log in to the e-Filing portal of the Income Tax Department by entering the log-in ID, password and date of birth
- 3. After punching in the details, you will also have to feed in a code
- 4. On logging in to the site, a pop up window will appear, prompting you to link your PAN card with Aadhaar card
- 5. If not, you can go to Profile setting and opt the “Link Aadhaar” button
- 6. Punch in the details such as name, date of birth and gender. It will be already mentioned by you during registration on the e-Filing portal
- 7. Verify the details on screen with the ones mentioned on your Aadhaar card
- 8. If the details match, enter your Aadhaar card number and click on the “link now” button
- 9. You will get the message that your Aadhaar card has been successfully linked to your PAN card
