The Centre on Sunday (31st March 2019) extended the time limit for linking PAN with biometric ID Aadhaar by six months i.e. till 30th September, according to an official statement.
Nevertheless, quoting of Aadhaar will remain compulsory for filing income tax returns (ITRs), following the Supreme Court order.
This is 6th time that the government has extended the deadline for people to link their Permanent Account Number (PAN) with the Aadhaar.
In June 2018, the Centre had said that PAN has to be linked with the biometric ID by 31st March 2019.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement said, "....now the cut-off date for intimating the Aadhaar number & linking PAN with Aadhaar is 30th September 2019, unless specifically exempted".
The CBDT also mentioned there were reports that those PANs which are not linked with Aadhaar number by 31st March may be cancelled, following which the issue was considered by the Centre and the date was extended till 30th September.
It added, "Notwithstanding the last date of intimating or linking of Aadhaar Number with PAN being 30th September 2019, it is also made clear that with effect from 1st April, 2019, it is compulsory to quote & link Aadhaar number while filing the return of income".
In September last year, the top court had declared the government’s flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid and held that the biometric ID would remain obligatory for filing of Income Tax returns & allotment of PAN.
However, a five-judge constitution bench said that it will not be mandatory to link Aadhaar to bank accounts and telecom service providers cannot ask for its linking for mobile connections.
Till September 2018, out of the 41 crore PANs issued, more than 21 crore were linked to Aadhaar.
The earlier deadlines for linking PAN with Aadhaar were 31st July, 31st August and 31st December 2017; 31st March, 30th June, 2018 and 31st March, 2019.
