In a bid to get rid of all the fake and duplicate Permanent Account Numbers (PANs), the government has deactivated and invalidated about millions of PAN cards throughout the country. As the government had made it very easy to create new PAN using the online pan application process, some people have misused the facility to develop forged or duplicate PAN cards. The step of deactivation was taken after a report was produced saying that a considerable number of people had multiple PAN numbers allotted to them whereas one individual is entitled to hold only a single PAN number. As a derivative measure, the government has also made it mandatory to link your aadhaar card with your PAN card which will further help in tax evasion and control black money. The last date to link one’s PAN card with their Aadhaar card was 31st March 2018 after which the government took extreme measures to invalidate a large number of PAN cards.
Given the situation and the haste to remove all duplicate PAN cards allotted to individuals, there is a huge scope of errors which could lead to unnecessary deactivation of your PAN card even if you had only one. In this case, it is crucial to keep a check on the validity of your PAN card at all time and also know how to re-activate it, just in case. Therefore, the Income Tax Department has introduced a facility where you can check the validity of your pan card online. By following these easy steps mentioned below, you can easily track the validity of your PAN:
- Go to the website: Click on the link https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in and find the Quick Links section. From there, select the option of Know Your PAN, and you will be redirected to a form. Or you can directly visit the page https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/e-Filing/Services/KnowYourPanLinkGS.html.
- 2. Fill the form: In the form, you will be asked to fill in all your necessary details. The five mandatory details such as Surname, Date of Birth, Status and Mobile Number have to be filled in carefully. Under the Status, you can select whether the PAN is registered in the name of the individual, or a Company, or any trust, etc. In case you pick Individual, you will have to provide the gender. After filling in all the details, click on ‘Submit’ after which an OTP will then be sent to the registered mobile number.
- Enter OTP: Once you receive the OTP, enter it in the space provided for it and click on Validate to verify the details submitted by you. If the details provided by you do not match with the details with Income Tax department, you will not be able to see the status of your PAN and a message stating “No records for the provided details” would flash on the screen.
If the details provided by you match, the result page with all the status and details of your PAN will be provided to you. You will be able to see your full name, jurisdiction and the status of your PAN there.
If your PAN has been blocked or Deactivated wrongly by the department, follow these steps to reactive your PAN card:
- Write a formal letter addressed to your jurisdictional Assessing Officer (AO) in the Income Tax Department with the subject to reactive your PAN.
- With your Letter for Activation, you need to attach the following documents for verification and proof:
- A Bond of Indemnity in approval of the Income Tax Department.
- A copy of your PAN where you have regularly filed your Income Tax Return.
- A copy of the last three years Income Tax Returns filed on the deactivated PAN.
- After submission of the letter to the Income Tax Department, it usually takes up to 10-15 days for them to reactivate the PAN.
By following the three simple steps you can check the status of your PAN, and in case it has been wrongly invalidated, you can request for a re-validation by following the steps mentioned above.
