If you do not have the 12-digit biometric Aadhaar, you can still go ahead with filing your income-tax return on July 1. For, the government notification on linking Aadhaar with PAN does not apply to those who do not possess Aadhaar or have not applied for the 12-digit biometric identification.
The notification issued by the government on Wednesday is applicable only to those who have both Aadhaar and PAN; such taxpayers should compulsorily link the two while filing their income tax returns on or after July 1.
The linking of Aadhaar with PAN became a law vide section 139AA of the Income Tax Act inserted through the Finance Bill 2017 passed this year by the Parliament.
The relief to such taxpayers (who have PAN but not Aadhaar) was given in the June 10 interim order by the Supreme Court, as extracted below:
"However, those assessees who are not Aadhaar card holders and do not comply with the provision of Section 139(2), their PAN cards be not treated as invalid for the time being. It is only to facilitate other transactions which are mentioned in Rule 114B of the Rules," the apex court had said.
The proviso to section 139AA (2) provides that in case of non-intimation of Aadhaar (in income tax returns), the PAN allotted to the person shall be deemed to be invalid from a date to be notified by the Central Government. This had created a furore leading to litigation on the enforceability of the provision since many taxpayers had not obtained Aadhaar.
There are about 25 crore Indians who have PAN while about 110 crore people have Aadhaar.
For those applying for a permanent account number (PAN), Aadhaar is a must, according to the government notification.
