The primary goal of issuing a Permanent Account Number (PAN) is to provide a universal identification for all citizens’ financial transactions while also preventing tax evasion through monetary transaction tracking. It also enables the quick retrieval of PAN holders’ information as well as the matching of various PAN holders’ investments, borrowings, and other business activities.
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The government has also mandated that everyone should link their existing Aadhaar numbers to their PAN cards in order to ensure the above obligations. This, in turn, will also aid in combating PAN card fraud and determining whether multiple PAN cards are in use.
According to a recent Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) notification, the deadline to link PAN with Aadhaar card has been extended from March 31, 2022 to March 31, 2023, with a nominal fine. If your PAN is not linked to your Aadhaar, it will become inoperative on April 1, 2023, according to section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961. If PAN cardholders do not meet this deadline, their 10-digit unique alphanumeric number will be rendered inactive.
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But how will you know if your PAN has been duplicated or is being used to by any other person? You can check this on the official website of the Income Tax Department. Follow these steps to check.
Check if your PAN card is valid or not:
– Go to https://www.incometax.gov.in/iec/foportal/ to access the Income Tax Department’s e-filing website.
– Select the ‘Verify your PAN’ option.
– Enter the necessary information, such as your PAN number, name, date of birth, and contact number.
– After you enter the information, you will be redirected to another page where you must enter the OTP that was sent to your registered mobile number.
(To receive OTP, ensure that your mobile number is linked to your PAN).
– Enter the received OTP and click on ‘Validate’
– If your PAN card information has not been duplicated or distributed to multiple people, the final page will display ‘PAN is Active and details are as per PAN’.
– If you have more than one PAN card registered with the same personal information, a message will appear stating, “There are multiple records for this query. Provide additional information.” In this case, you must provide your father’s name as well as other identification information.