Don't waste any more time, Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline unlikely to be extended

NEW DELHI: The income tax department is unlikely to extend beyond August 31, the date for linking Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Aadhaar. Earlier this month, the tax department had extended the deadline till August 31, but cautioned that returns would not be processed until the “linkage of Aadhaar with PAN is done“.

The deadline was extended as there were complaints that taxpayers were unable to link the Aadhaar number with PAN because of different names in the two databases.

Sources in the tax department said there was no move to extend the date now as enough time had been provided to link PAN and Aadhaar.

“Not to the best of my knowledge,“ said a senior tax official when asked whether the date for linking PAN and Aadhaar would be extended.

The tax department had received several complaints from taxpayers expressing their inability to link the two identification numbers.

Also Read: How to link PAN with Aadhaar

The Supreme Court verdict on privacy as a fundamental right has triggered talk that it may have an implication on Aadhaar, and any adverse impact could impact the move to link PAN and Aadhaar.

Ajay Bhushan Pandey , CEO of Unique Identification Authority of India, the entity that handles Aadhaar, has been quoted as saying that taxpayers will have to link PAN and Aadhaar by August 31 as the SC ruling is unlikely to have any impact on the process of linking the two databases as of now.

The government views the linking of PAN and Aadhaar as an “effective anti-evasion measure“ and is part of its strategy to fight black money.