Linking Aadhaar with PAN made more easy using SMS – Income Tax Department initiative to facilitate Income Tax PAN holders as they will have to declare their Aadhaar in Income Tax Return to be filed on or before 31st July 2017

Earlier Income Tax came up with a facility to link Aadhaar with PAN which can be used by PAN holders who do not have e-filing credentials.
To make the job more easier Income Tax Department has now launched another facility by which PAN holders can easily link their Aadhaar with PAN using nSMS.
Govt is the view that Linking of Aadhaar with PAN is the need of the hour to eliminate Fake PAN held by unscrupulous persons in order to evade payment of IIn his procedure, mobile number and e-mail id linked to Aadhaar will be used to authenticate Aadhaar – PAN linking process.
How to link Aadhaar with PAN – Step by step guide as per the press release of Income Tax Department
Send SMS to 567678 or 56161 in the following format:
UIDPAN<SPACE><12 digit Aadhaar><Space><10 digit PAN>
Example:
UIDPAN 111133333321 AAAAAEEEEE
The Existing facility of linking Aadhaar using official e-filing website of the department can also be used.
Aadhaar can also be seeded into PAN database by quoting Aadhaar in PAN application form for new PAN allotment or by quoting Aadhaar in change request form used for reprint of PAN card

Why is it important to link Aadhaar with PAN?

The Income Tax Department is urging taxpayers to link their Aadhaar with their PAN, using an SMS-based facility because from July 1, 2017, all tax returns will have to mention the Aadhaar number.
If you have both the permanent account number (PAN) and Aadhaar, you need to link the two. If you fail to do so, your PAN number could become invalid.

How to link your Aadhaar to PAN online:

1. Log on to incometa-xindiaefiling.gov.in. (This step is not compulsory. You can directly jump to Step 2 if you do not wish to log in)
2. Click on ‘Link Aadhaar’
3. A pop-up window will appear. Enter your Aadhaar number, PAN number, and name as per Aadhaar
4. Enter captcha and click on ‘Link Aadhaar’.
In the case of any minor mismatch in Aadhaar name provided, Aadhaar OTP (one-time password) will be required. The OTP will be sent to the registered mobile number in the Aadhaar database.
The government, under the Finance Act 2017, has made it mandatory for taxpayers to quote Aadhaar or enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form for filing of Income-Tax returns (ITR).