Deadline for linking Aadhaar with PAN extended till 31 December 2017

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on 31 August 2017 extended the deadline for linking of Aadhaar with PAN till 31 December 2017. The previous deadline for Aadhaar-PAN linkage was 31 August 2017.

Moreover, CBDT also extended the deadline for filing Income Tax Returns (ITR) and Tax Audit Reports.

Now, the due-date for filing Income Tax Returns and various reports of audit prescribed under the Income-tax Act, 1961 has been extended from 30 September 2017 to 31 October 2017 for all taxpayers who were liable to file their Income Tax Returns by 30 September 2017.

The Aadhaar-PAN linkage is mandated through Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 which says that person having PAN as on 1 July 2017 and is eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities.

However, those categorised as NRIs, non-citizens of India, those above 80 years of age and residents of Assam, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir had been exempted from the linkage under the Act.

Comment
The extension of date for Aadhaar-PAN linking comes at a time when the Supreme Court is hearing petitions challenging the government's decision on Aadhaar's necessity for availing government schemes. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for November 2017.

The Income Tax Department on 31 July 2017 stated that unless it is declared that Aadhaar is constitutionally invalid, ITR filers will need to link their PAN with Aadhaar.