Aadhaar-PAN Linking: Big news for Aadhaar and PAN Card holders. It has now become mandatory to link your PAN card with Aadhaar. This step is necessary so that your Income Tax Return (ITR) can be processed without any delay. If a person gets a new PAN card, his Aadhaar is automatically linked to the PAN. But those who already have a PAN card, it is necessary for them to link it with Aadhaar. The government has set the last date for this as 31 December 2025. If you do not link it on time, you may have to pay a fine or late fee.

Why is Aadhaar linking necessary when making a new PAN?

The Income Tax Department has made Aadhaar-PAN linking mandatory because many people used to get more than one PAN card or use someone else’s PAN to evade taxes. Apart from this, fake GST registrations had also become a big problem, where fake or duplicate PAN cards were being used. By March 2024, there were more than 74 crore PAN card holders in India, out of which about 60.5 crore people had linked PAN with Aadhaar. It is clear from this that the government is emphasizing on preventing identity fraud and tax evasion.

How to link Aadhaar number with PAN online?

Visit the official website of Income Tax e-Filing.
Click on “Link Aadhaar” (in Quick Links) on the home page.
After login, select “Link Aadhaar” in your profile section.
Enter your PAN, Aadhaar number and name as written on Aadhaar.
If date of birth is mentioned on Aadhaar card, then tick the relevant box.
Tick on “I agree to validate my Aadhaar details with UIDAI”.
Click on “Link Aadhaar”.
You will receive an OTP on your registered mobile number. Enter it and verify.
A pop-up will appear on the screen stating that your Aadhaar has been successfully linked to PAN.

You can also link Aadhaar-PAN by sending an SMS

UIDPAN<12 digit Aadhaar number><10 digit PAN number>
Example:

UIDPAN 34512349891 CFIED1234J
This SMS has to be sent to 567678 or 56161.
Link by visiting PAN Service Center
If you are unable to link online or through SMS, then go to NSDL/UTIITSL or any authorized PAN service center. You can manually link Aadhaar-PAN by submitting the required form and documents there.