Here are four ways to link your PAN card with Aadhaar

The Income Tax Department has made it mandatory to link your Permanent Account Number (PAN) with your Aadhaar by the end of this year.

The deadline to link the PAN with Aadhaar was extended till Dec. 31 by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) through an order issued in September this year. Earlier, the deadline for the linkage was Sept. 30.

Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to a resident of India and the PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted by the I-T Department to a person, firm or entity.

Since the deadline is quickly approaching, here are four ways in which you can link your PAN card with Aadhaar:

1. For registered income tax users

Step 1: Visit the Income Tax (I-T) department website (www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in) and log in to the e-Filing portal with your user id and password.

Step 2: Click on the 'Link Aadhaar' option under the Profile Settings.

Step 3: Enter the following details: a) PAN card b) Aadhaar and c) Name as exactly specified on the Aadhaar card without spelling mistakes.

To avoid any mismatch, cross-check the entered details and then click on the 'link now' button. You will receive a pop-up message saying - "Aadhaar-PAN linking is completed successfully".

2. For non-registered users

Step 1: If you are not a registered user on the e-filing website, you can just click on the 'Link Aadhaar' option on the e-filing website.

Step 2: A new form will appear where you will be required to enter the following details: a) PAN, a) Aadhaar number and c) Name as per Aadhaar.

Step 3: Fill in the required details and click on 'Link Aadhaar'.

3. Link Aadhaar and PAN through SMS

You can link your Aadhaar and PAN through SMS services provided by the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) and UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited (UTIITSL).

Send an SMS to either 567678 or 56161 from your registered mobile number in the following format: UIDPAN<SPACE><12 digit Aadhaar><Space><10 digit PAN>. For example: UIDPAN 123456789123 AKPLM2124M

NSDL and UTIITSL won't charge you for this. However, SMS charges as levied by the mobile operator will be applicable.

4. Manual linking of PAN and Aadhaar

If you wish to link your PAN card and Aadhaar manually, you can visit a service centre for PAN, NSDL or UTIITSL. You will be required to fill in a form 'Annexure-I' along with supporting documents, which is a copy of PAN card and Aadhaar card.

You will have to pay a prescribed fee to the service provider. The charges depend on whether a correction is required in the PAN or Aadhaar details. If you need to make corrections in PAN details, the fee charged is Rs 110. In the case of Aadhaar, the prescribed fee for any correction is Rs 25.