Over 14 crore Permanent Account Numbers (PANs) have been linked with Aadhaar till now, official sources said today. With this, about 41 per cent of PANs are now linked with Aadhaar numbers.
There are about 33 crore PAN cards, while Aadhaar has been issued to about 115 crore people.
"Over 41 crore PANs have been linked with the Aadhaar till now. The linkages are ongoing," a senior official said.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy-making body for the Income Tax Department, last week extended the deadline for this linkage to March 31 next year.
"It has come to notice that some of the taxpayers have not yet completed the linking of PAN with Aadhaar. Therefore, to facilitate the process of linking, it has been decided to further extend the time for linking of Aadhaar with PAN till March 31, 2018," the CBDT said.
The government has made the PAN-Aadhaar linking mandatory for filing ITR (Income Tax Return) and obtaining a new Permanent Account Number (PAN) from July 1.
The Supreme Court in June upheld the validity of an Income Tax Act provision making Aadhaar mandatory for allotment of PAN cards and ITR filing, but put a partial stay on its implementation till a Constitution bench addressed the issue of right to privacy.
The CBDT in June said the apex court's order had only given a "partial relief" to those who did not have an Aadhaar or an Aadhaar enrolment ID, and the taxman, hence, "will not cancel" the PAN of such individuals.
While Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to a resident of India, PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted by the I-T department to a person, firm or entity.
