NEW DELHI: The Centre on Monday extended the last date for filing income tax returns by five days to August 5 and also said taxpayers can link their Aadhaar with their Permanent Account Number (PAN) by August 31.
The finance ministry announced the extensions after taxpayers were unable to access the tax filing site for a significant period on Monday.
The last date for filing returns was July 31 and lastminute filers rushed to upload details. The tax cell had been urging taxpayers to file returns by July 31 and had launched a publicity campaign to ensure the deadline was met.
The ministry said that for e-filing, it would be sufficient for now to quote the Aadhaar or acknowledgement number if one has applied for an Aadhaar.
I-T returns won't be processed till PAN-Aadhaar linked: Govt
The finance ministry in a statement said, "The actual linking of PAN with Aadhaar can be done subsequently, but any time before 31st August, 2017.
However, the returns will not be processed until the linkage of Aadhaar with PAN is done." The ministry said there were complaints that taxpayers were not being able to log on to the e-filing website of the income tax department.
It also received complaints that taxpayers were not being able to link their Aadhaar number with PAN because of different names in the two databases.
The ministry said technical snags had been removed and the main reason for failure of people to log on was due to last minute rush and panic. Those who had already logged in wanted to continue for the entire period for fear of losing their data.
The online filing system had developed a technical snag on Saturday and several tax consultants said they were unable to access the site. The tax department had said there was a hardware glitch.
TOI had reported on Saturday that the government was looking at the possibility of providing some relief to taxpayers who have been put in a difficult spot due to the mandatory linking of Aadhaar and PAN.
Sources in the government had told TOI that the tax department had received several complaints expressing inability to link the two identification numbers. There were several complaints that names in the two registries did not match.
The finance ministry announced the extensions after taxpayers were unable to access the tax filing site for a significant period on Monday.
The last date for filing returns was July 31 and lastminute filers rushed to upload details. The tax cell had been urging taxpayers to file returns by July 31 and had launched a publicity campaign to ensure the deadline was met.
The ministry said that for e-filing, it would be sufficient for now to quote the Aadhaar or acknowledgement number if one has applied for an Aadhaar.
I-T returns won't be processed till PAN-Aadhaar linked: Govt
The finance ministry in a statement said, "The actual linking of PAN with Aadhaar can be done subsequently, but any time before 31st August, 2017.
However, the returns will not be processed until the linkage of Aadhaar with PAN is done." The ministry said there were complaints that taxpayers were not being able to log on to the e-filing website of the income tax department.
It also received complaints that taxpayers were not being able to link their Aadhaar number with PAN because of different names in the two databases.
The ministry said technical snags had been removed and the main reason for failure of people to log on was due to last minute rush and panic. Those who had already logged in wanted to continue for the entire period for fear of losing their data.
The online filing system had developed a technical snag on Saturday and several tax consultants said they were unable to access the site. The tax department had said there was a hardware glitch.
TOI had reported on Saturday that the government was looking at the possibility of providing some relief to taxpayers who have been put in a difficult spot due to the mandatory linking of Aadhaar and PAN.
Sources in the government had told TOI that the tax department had received several complaints expressing inability to link the two identification numbers. There were several complaints that names in the two registries did not match.
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