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Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline extended to June 30: Nirmala Sitharaman
The deadline for linking Permanent Account Number card to Aadhaar was extended by the Income Tax department to March 31 earlier—the eighth time that an extension was made.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday the deadline for linking Aadhaar with PAN card has been extended to June 30 from March 31 as the country is under lockdown to stop the spread of the Covid-19 disease, which has infected nearly 500 people and killed nine.
The deadline for linking Permanent Account Number card to Aadhaar was extended by the Income Tax department to March 31 earlier—the eighth time that an extension was made.
After the Supreme Court announced its verdict about the Aadhaar card in 2018, the 12-digit identification number has become mandatory for filing income tax returns and also to acquire a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card. PAN card is connected to taxes and bank accounts.
Nirmala Sitharaman, who has received many requests from traders, companies and others for relaxation in deadlines, made the announcements at a press conference.
Before the address, she had tweeted she would make some announcements about statutory and regulatory compliance matters in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Covid-19 cases in India have increased to 492 and a lockdown has been declared in most of the country to check the spread of the coronavirus disease that has claimed more than 14,500 lives globally.
In her tweet, Sitharaman also underlined that the government was working on an economic package on priority “to help us through the Corona lockdown” that has impacted economic activity in the country. But this would take a bit more time to be finalised.
The government has already extended the deadlines for filing returns of goods and services tax (GST) in view of the coronavirus crisis. Sitharaman has also allowed companies to deploy their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds to fight the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, tapping a potential Rs 30,000 crore in funding.
But there have been demands that the government relax deadlines for income tax payments and relax the mandatory filing norms that would coincide with the ending of the financial year next week.
Traders have also sought ‘coronavirus’ cash loans at a reduced rate to merchants to keep the supply chain running smoothly across the country.
The labour ministry, on the other hand, has asked states and Union territories to dip into the Rs 52,000 crore cess fund available with them to transfer money into bank accounts of 3.5 crore construction workers registered with the construction welfare boards.
