Here’s how to link your PAN with Aadhaar online before the deadline

• The deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar is March 31, 2021.
  
• If any individual fails to link their PAN with Aadhaar before this deadline, their PAN will be marked inoperative.
  
• Apart from this, the government could also levy a penalty of up to ₹1,000 on individuals who fail to complete the linking.
  
• The good news is you can link your PAN with Aadhaar in under 2 minutes online for free.
  

The PAN-Aadhaar linking deadline is here. If you fail to link your PAN with your Aadhaar by March 31, 2021, then your PAN will become inoperative. You could also be liable to pay a fine of ₹1,000.

The government revealed these details in the Finance Bill, 2021, making it mandatory to link PAN with Aadhaar by March 31, 2021. For this purpose, the government added Section 234H in the Income Tax Act, 1961 to penalise those who fail to link their PAN with Aadhaar by the deadline.

The government had first announced in 2017 that it would require all individuals to link their PAN with Aadhaar. While it has given several extensions since then, this year it has finally been made mandatory.

If you have already done the linking, you don’t have to do anything else. But if you haven’t, follow these steps to link your PAN with Aadhaar online for free:

1. Open the Income Tax department’s e-filing portal here.
   
2. Click on the ‘Link Aadhaar’ option on the left, or click here.
   
3. Now, enter your PAN, Aadhaar number and name as per your Aadhaar card.
   
4. If your Aadhaar card contains only your year of birth instead of the complete date of birth, check the box, else leave it unchecked.
   
5. Now, click on the agree checkbox to validate your Aadhaar details with UIDAI.
   
6. Finally, enter the captcha code and click on the ‘Link Aadhaar’ button.
   

After successfully validating your details with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), your PAN-Aadhaar linking will be complete.

This linking process is completely free and can be done in less than 2 minutes.

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