Deadline for Aadhaar-PAN linking extended till August 31

The government on Monday notified that it has extended the deadline for linking Aadhaar with PAN (Permanent Account Number). The last date for the linking has now been finalised for August 31. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) also said that the Income Tax Returns (ITRs) will be processed only after the linking has been completed.

In a series of tweets from its verified handle, the Finance Ministry clarified that for e-filing of ITR, it is sufficient to quote Aadhaar or acknowledgement number but the linking needs to be completed before August 31.

Govt decided for e-filing return,it is sufficient to quote Aadhaar or acknowledgement No. for having applied for Aadhaar in e-filing website

Actual linking of PAN with Aadhaar 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.

Earlier, in a last minute decision, the government on Monday also extended the deadline for filing Income Tax Returns (ITRs) till August 5.

The official twitter handle of the tax department said the move was made "in view of difficulties faced by taxpayers."

A senior official of the department said the decision to extend the deadline was taken after a meeting of the revenue department and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) was held in the finance ministry on Monday.

Section 139AA of the I-T Act has made it mandatory to quote the Aadhaar number or the application number for I-T returns filed on or after July 1 this year. On June 9, the Supreme Court upheld this.

Those without an Aadhaar or its application number are in a spot, as taxpayers with an income of above Rs 5 lakh have to mandatorily file their I-T returns online.

The government has said linking of Aadhaar with PAN was an effective anti-evasion measure and had helped weed out bogus PAN cards.

Source:-The Times of India