Last month, the Supreme Court had said that linkage of PAN with Aadhaar was mandatory for the filing of Income Tax returns
The apex court had in September last year declared Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid
Former CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra said just 23 crore PAN card holders linked their cards with Aadhaar
With the Income-Tax Department already asked the taxpayers to link their Aadhaar with their PAN (Permanent Account Number) by 31 March this year to get seamless services online, only two days have been left to complete the procedure.
Last month, the Supreme Court had said that linkage of PAN with Aadhaar was mandatory for the filing of Income Tax returns (ITR), said a PTI report.
A bench comprising Justices AK Sikri and S Abdul Nazeer said the top court already decided the matter and upheld the section 139AA of the Income Tax Act.
The court’s direction came on an appeal filed by the Centre against a Delhi High Court order allowing two persons, Shreya Sen and Jayshree Satpute, to file Income Tax returns for 2018-19 without linking their Aadhaar and PAN numbers.
“We, therefore, make it clear that for the assessment year 2019-20, the income tax return shall be filed in terms of the judgment passed by this court. The special leave petition is disposed of in the above terms,” the bench said in an order.
The apex court had in September last year declared the Centre’s flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid but struck down some of its provisions including its linking with bank accounts, mobile phones and school admissions.
Last month, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stressed that Aadhaar-PAN linking is “mandatory” for those filing an ITR and this procedure has to be “completed” by 31 March this year.
“Constitutional validity of Aadhaar has been upheld by the Supreme Court of India in September 2018. Consequently, in terms of Section 139AA of Income Tax Act, 1961 and order dated 30 June 2018 of the CBDT, Aadhaar-PAN linking is mandatory now which has to be completed till 31 March 2019 by PAN holders requiring the filing of ITR,” the CBDT said.
Former CBDT chairman Sushil Chandra, early this month at an event, had said that just 23 crore PAN card holders — over half of the total PAN card holders — have so far linked their cards with biometric ID Aadhaar.
He had said the I-T Department has so far issued 42 crore PAN, of which 23 crores have been linked with Aadhaar.
Chandra said that once Aadhaar is linked with PAN and PAN is linked with a bank account, the I-T department can find out spending pattern and other details of the assessee.
