Aadhaar and PAN Linking Deadline extended to December 31, 2017

There is good news for taxpayers as the income tax department has extended the deadline to link PAN with Aadhaar by 4 months to December 31. The department had earlier said that tax returns filed without linking of Aadhaar and PAN would not be taken up for processing unless the two were linked by August 31, 2017. 

This is a huge relief to those who had filed their income tax returns (ITR) by the due date of August 5, 2017, but were not able to link their PAN with Aadhaar by August 31, 2017. 

Aadhaar - PAN Linking Deadline is extended to 31st August, 2017

We have seen in our earlier post Step by Step Process of Linking Aadhaar Number to PAN that if you have Aadhaar Number, it is mandatory to link it to PAN and mention the same in your tax returns filed on or after 1st July, 2017.

Today, the Income Tax Department relaxed it with a press release today by making the linking your Aadhaar Number with your PAN Process OPTIONAL for the purpose of your IT Return e-filing till 31st August, 2017. However, it is mandatory to quote your Aadhaar Number in your Income Tax Returns and the actual linking process can be done subsequently, but any time before 31st August, 2017. However, the returns will not be processed until the linkage of Aadhaar with PAN is done.

You can also find the IT Department Press Release Copy by clicking Extension of date for IT Returns e-Filing till 5th August, 2017 - IT Department Press Relase

Extension of date for IT Returns e-Filing till 5th August, 2017 - IT Department Press Relase

IT Filing deadline extended to August 5, 2017

The last date for filing income-tax returns this year has been extended to August 5. The original deadline for filing income tax returns for FY 2016-17 (AY 2017-18) was July 31, 2017.  

The extension is a welcome relief for a large number of tax payers struggling to meet the deadline in the face of various problems.  

Step by Step Process of Linking Aadhaar Number to PAN

As per a Supreme Court judgement passed on 9 June 2017, if you have Aadhaar, it is mandatory to link it to PAN and mention the same in your tax returns. However, if you don’t have Aadhaar, you can e-file tax returns without the same till 30 June 2017.

People can  visit the official e-filing website of the department to link the two identities, in both the cases– identical names in the two databases or in case where there is a minor mismatch.

The Income Tax Department has made it easy for taxpayers to link their PAN with Aadhaar with just a 2 step process which does not even require  to login or register at the e- filing website. This facility can be used by anyone to link their Aadhaar with PAN.

2 step process to link Aadhaar with PAN

Step 1 :

Just go to www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and click on the link on the left pane – Link Aadhaar

Step 2 :

Provide PAN, Aadhaar no. and ENTER NAME EXACTLY AS GIVEN IN AADHAAR CARD (avoid spelling mistakes) and submit. After verification from UIDAI which is the government website for Aadhaar, the linking will be confirmed.

In case of any minor mismatch in Aadhaar name provided, Aadhaar OTP will be required. Please ensure that the date of birth and gender in PAN and Aadhaar are exactly same.

In a rare case where Aadhaar name is completely different from name in PAN, then the linking will fail and taxpayer will be prompted to change the name in either Aadhaar or in PAN database.

The process of linking Aadhaar with PAN is also available after login to the income tax website. Following are the steps for this :

Step 1.

First register yourself at the income tax e filing portal, if you are not already registered.https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

Step 2.

Log in to the e-Filing portal of the Income Tax Department by entering the login ID, password and date of birth

Step 3.

On logging in to the site, a pop up window will appear prompting you to link your PAN card with Aadhaar card. If you don’t see the popup, go to blue tab on the top bar named ‘Profile Settings’ and click on ‘Link Aadhaar’.

Step 4.

Details such as name, date of birth and gender will already be mentioned as per the details submitted at the time of registration on the e-Filing portal. Verify the details on screen with the ones mentioned on your Aadhaar card.

Step 5.

If the details match, enter your Aadhaar card number and captcha code and click on the “Link now” button.

Step 6.

A pop-up message will inform you that your Aadhaar card has been successfully linked to your PAN card.

You can also now link your Aadhaar and PAN through SMS . The Income Tax Department has urged taxpayers to link their Aadhaar with their PAN, using an SMS-based facility. It can be done by sending an SMS to either 567678 or 56161.

Send SMS to 567678 or 56161 from your registered mobile number in following format:

UIDPAN<SPACE><12 digit Aadhaar><Space><10 digit PAN>

Example: UIDPAN 987654321987 AQILM0098L

How to Find PAN Number of a Person or Firm or Company

Most often, we as Accountants have to get the works done even though we have short of information. 

One of such situations is: We don't have a Permanent Account Number (PAN) but we have to manage the things  like

• We don't have PAN of a Person or a Partnership Firm or a Company who is a TDS deductee but we have to file a Quarterly e-TDS Return;
• We have file a IT Return of our Company where we don't have PAN of a person who gave Unsecured Loan which covered under Section 269SS/ 269T; 
• Knowing PAN of Auditor/ Audit Firm for RoC or IT Forms
• Filing PAN of a Partner or Director of Key Management Personnel or Major Shareholder in IT Return Form, etc

The following are some of techniques that we use in our day-to-day practice for finding the PAN of an Individual, a Partnership Firm, a Company, a trust or a Government Organization:

1. Through Know your TAN (Not Know your PAN)

I as a Chartered Accountant always feel quite easy to know PAN of a person through Know your TAN by providing Category, State and Name. We don't need to give full name. It's biggest advantage here. 

Here, the tricky is choosing Category. Most of the cases, we can guess the category correctly but sometimes, we have to play around by changing the categories.

There are cases, especially in case of Govt Organization, we may not find PAN in TAN Database or the PAN what we are looking for does not have TAN at all. In such cases, we have to go to the following alternatives.

2. Know your PAN

Following link Know your PAN and submitting the form after filling DoB and Surname

If you don't know Date of Incorporation of a Company, you may follow link Company Master Details of MCA21 Site and the result will be as follows:

Finding PAN of a Company is quite simple. Getting Date of Incorporation from Master Data of MCA21 Site and submitting Know your PAN of IT Site.

However, you may find sometime name of the company in MCA21 is different from name of the Assessee in IT database.  In such situations, we need to play around a little bit.

For example, PRIVATE LIMITED in MCA21 but PVT LTD in IT Database, There is space between two words in company name as per MCA21 but there is no space as per IT Database, etc. 

3. Through Service Tax Invoice:

It's quite simple one.

If we go through the provisions of the Service Tax, every service provider who issues Tax Invoice has to give his Service Tax Registration Number on the Invoice mandatorily; and 

The service tax registration number is a 15 digit number which comprises as follows:

1st 10 digits: PAN No. of the Assessee

11th & 12th digits: Service Tax Code (it's either ST or SD)

13th, 14th & 15th digits: Serial Number for the ST Registration allotted for a PAN Card

4. Through RoC Forms:

As a Chartered Accountant, I always find new way for a problem. This is the most interesting and challenging option of finding PAN Number.

We must admit the fact that most of the businessmen are Directors of one or more companies and has the DIN. Now-a-days, it's very easy to know the DIN of a director. You can find DIN in RoC Forms and Income Tax Forms also.

To know DIN of a person, follow View Signatory Details of MCA21 site.

Here is the tricky now. We can get PAN number of a director from many RoC Forms but I go now with downloading Form No. INC-1 and fill some of the basic fields of the form, fill the DIN in Point No. 8 (Particulars of Proposed Directors) and click Pre-fill. That's it, we get the PAN Number corresponding to the DIN from the MCA21 Database as shown in the screen shot below.

As an Accountant, the above are some of the techniques that I use in our day-to-day practice for finding the PAN. If you know any new technique or do you have any query on finding PAN, please provide as a comment below for the benefit our Accountants Community.

TRC/ PE Declaration Format in respect of Form 15CA/ 15CB u/s 195(6)

Format of Tax Residence Certificate/ PE Declaration to be received from Foreign Seller his letter head or with any variation as may be agreed with him :

(On letter head of the Vendor)

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

This is to confirm the following:

1.       That we are a Company / LLC / Partnership Firm registered at …………………. (country name) and are a tax resident of  …………………… (Country Name) . Our principal place of business is at  ……………………………… (country name) . A copy of our incorporation certificate is attached herewith (or any other proof of being foreign resident ,if shared by them)

2.       We are not having any Permanent Establishment or liasion office in India or any business connection in India.

3.       That the payment of …………………… $ being remitted to us against our invoice no …………………………… dated …………………. is towards sale of ……………………….. and as such is in the nature of business income taxable in the country of our residence i.e. ……………………. (country name) .  The said payment is not in the nature of fees for technical services.

4.       In view of the aforesaid, no income accrues or arise in India and payment against our invoice be released without deduction of withholding taxes.

For ABC 

Authorised Signatory

You may click here for the Declaration in Microsoft Word Format

Is Form 15CA & 15CB Requirement Mandatory in case of Payments against Import of Goods?

The straight answer to this question is YES.

Section 195(6) was amended in the Finance Act, 2015 and accordingly, the Form 15CA and 15CB are mandatorily filed for all remittances to non-residents, whether chargeable to tax in India or not. All the assessees are required to submit Form 15CA and 15CB for all outward cross border remittances INCLUDING THOSE AGAINST IMPORTS with effect from 01.06.2015.

There is now a penalty of ONE LAKH RUPEES in case of non-furnishing of information or furnishing of incorrect information under section 195(6) (i.e. form 15CA and form 15CB) of the Act.

You may click here for the format of Tax Residence Certificate/ PE Declaration to be received from Foreign Seller his letter head or with any variation as may be agreed with him.