INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Court upheld the validity of the linkage between the two databases on Wednesday.As per official figures accessed by news agency Press Trust
of India, a total of 21,08,16,676 PANs issued by the Income Tax Department have been linked with Aadhaar till Monday
The total operational or issued PANs are over 41.02 crore (41,02,66,969) as per the same time line, the data said."The deadline for the
PAN-Aadhaar linking has already been extended by the CBDT to March 31 next year, as per an order issued on June 30 this year," a senior
official said.As per the latest data, out of the over 41.02 crore PANs issued, an overwhelming number of more than 40.01 crore PANs are held
The rest are in the name of companies and other categories of tax payers, the official said, adding that the figure reflects that about 50
per cent of the PANs have been linked with Aadhaar till now.The deadline to link the two databases has been extended five times in the past
in view of the apex court order to keep it open till a five-judge constitution bench delivers its judgment on petitions challenging the
validity of the biometric scheme and the enabling law.That judgement came on Wednesday and the court has upheld the linking of the two
databases.The government, sometime back, had made quoting of Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns (ITRs) as well as obtaining a
new PAN.Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act says that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must
intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities.While Aadhaar is issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) to a
