The Union government on Wednesday extended the deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar by three months till June 30. The Income Tax department said it has received representations from taxpayers that the last date for intimating the Aadhaar number may further be extended in the wake of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.
Keeping in view the difficulties faced by the taxpayers, the Union government has issued a notification today extending the last date for the intimation of Aadhaar number and linking thereof with PAN to June 30, 2021, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.
“Central Government extends the last date for linking of Aadhaar number with PAN from 31st March 2021 to 30th June, 2021, in view of the difficulties arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic,” announced the Income Tax Department on Twitter.
In another tweet, it said, “Date for issue of notice under section 148 of Income-tax Act, 1961, the passing of consequential order for direction issued by the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP) & processing of equalisation levy statements also extended to 30th April, 2021.”
Central Government extends the last date for linking of Aadhaar number with PAN from 31st March, 2021 to 30th June, 2021, in view of the difficulties arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.(1/2)@nsitharamanoffc@Anurag_Office@FinMinIndia
— Income Tax India (@IncomeTaxIndia) March 31, 2021
The Supreme Court in September 2020 had declared the Union government’s Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid and announced that the biometric ID would remain mandatory for the filing of I-T returns and allotment of the PAN.
Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act also says that every person having PAN as of July 1, 2017, and is eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must quote their Aadhaar number to the tax authorities. The Department had earlier said that PAN will become inoperative if it is not linked with Aadhaar by March 31, 2021.
Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to a resident of India, while PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric figure allotted by the I-T department to a person, firm or entity.
The deadline for linking of PAN and Aadhar has been extended several times before.
(with PTI inputs)