Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: In what could be a big relief to taxpayers across the country, the government on Thursday extended the deadline for linking PAN with biometric identifier Aadhaar by four months till December 31.
Earlier the government had notified that tax returns filed would not be processed if the two were not linked by August 31.
The move comes a day after the Union Government told the Supreme Court that it was extending the deadline to make Aadhaar compulsory for welfare services in India from September 30 to December 31 which is also the deadline for linking bank accounts with the biometric identifier.
This comes as a big relief to returnees who had earlier filed their taxes by August 5 but were not able to link their biometric information with the PAN.
The extension came after the tax department received several complaints from taxpayers expressing their inability to link the two identifiers. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is also slated to hear on petitions challenging the government's decision on Aadhaar in November.
Every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and is eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities as stated by the Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act.