The income tax department has extended the deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar by four months to December 31. The tax department had earlier set a deadline for August 31 after which it had said that it would not process tax returns filed without Aadhaar and PAN linked.
The announcement comes as a huge relief for people who had filed their income tax returns by the due date of August 5 but were unable to link their PAN and Aadhaar before August 31.
The December 31 deadline now coincides with the deadline to link bank accounts with Aadhaar as well as the government’s own extension for furnishing Aadhaar to avail benefits of social welfare schemes.
At present, the Supreme Court is hearing petitions challenging the government’s mandatory use of Aadhaar and the next hearing on the matter is scheduled for November. As such, the tax department has stated that until a decision is made by the court making Aadhaar constitutionally invalid, taxpayers will need to link their PAN with Aadhaar.
