July 1 not the deadline for linking Aadhaar with PAN
While linking Aadhaar with PAN is mandatory from July 1, it is not mandatory to link by July 1 (Representational Image. Courtesy: Janayugom)
The government has made it mandatory to link existing Aadhaar numbers with PAN of taxpayers with effect from July 1. But, contrary to popular belief, July 1 is not the deadline for doing so.
As of today, there are around 2.5 crore PAN holders and 111 crore Aadhaar card holders in the country. Of them, barely 2 crore have linked their Aadhaar with PAN.
Amending income tax rules and notifying the same, the government has made quoting of the 12-digit biometric enrolment ID a must at the time of application of PAN.
“Every person who has been allotted PAN as on July 1, 2017, and who in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 139AA is required to intimate his Aadhaar number, shall intimate his Aadhaar number to the principal director general of income tax (systems) or DGIT (systems),” a government notification said.
Since many believed that their PAN cards would become invalid if they failed to link it with their Aadhaar by July 1, the income tax department’s website was inundated with requests yesterday, causing it to become inaccessible for a short while.
But an Economic Times report has now clarified that while the linking is mandatory from July 1, and it’s not mandatory to link by July 1. As a result, failure to link by the said date will not render the PAN invalid.
Moreover, section 139AA of the Income-Tax Act states that the linking needs to be completed “on or before” a date notified by the Central Government.
“After July 1, the linking will become mandatory and the government may declare a date after which the PAN not linked to Aadhaar will become invalid. The government has not declared that date yet,” the report says.
Meanwhile, everyone will have to quote the Aadhaar number while applying for a new permanent account number and in the return of income from July 1.
The Finance Act for 2017-18, aimed at curbing tax evasion by preventing use of multiple PAN cards, made both Aadhaar and PAN mandatory for filing tax returns, opening of bank accounts and for carrying out financial transactions above Rs 50,000.
Individuals can link their PAN and Aadhaar by visiting – https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/
