Deadline for PAN-Aadhaar linkage extended to December 31

For the seventh time, the Income Tax Department has extended the deadline for PAN-Aadhaar linkage to December 31, 2019.

The earlier deadline was September 30. However, there are demands from various segments of the society for extension which the Department accepted the new notification late on September 28.

The PAN will be invalid in if the deadline is not adhered. PAN is the 10-character alpha-numeric identity issued by the Income Tax Department, while Aadhaar is a 12-digit unique identity issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

As on March 31, 2019, over 44.57 crore taxpayers had been allotted PAN; of this, nearly 98 per cent or 43.52 lakh were individual tax payers. As on date, more than 124.45 crore Aadhaar identity cards have been generated.

The Supreme Court’s judgement on Aadhaar, has made it clear that if one has both Aadhaar and PAN, then linking them is mandatory. If the assessee does not hold an Aadhaar number, then PAN would not be considered invalid. However, if an assessee holds an Aadhaar number, it should be intimated to the Department.