The deadline for filing income-tax returns has been extended to August 5 due to “the difficulties faced by taxpayers”, the Central Board of Direct Taxes said on Monday, the original deadline.
It also said that for e-filing, it would be sufficient to quote the Aadhaar number or acknowledgement number of having applied for the 12-digit biometric identity.
“The actual linking of the Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar can be done subsequently, by August 31,” it said, adding that a return would not be processed until the linking was done.
Many individuals complained of long delays and technical difficulties in accessing the e-filing website.
E-filing of returns is mandatory for assessees with annual income over ₹5 lakh. Between April 1 and June 30, 73.33 lakh returns were e-filed, a 15.5 per cent increase from the same period a year ago.
“While technical snags have been removed ... the main reason for failure to log in is because of the last-minute rush and panic,” said the CBDT.
According to official data, of the 6.14 crore registered users on the income-tax e-filing portal, 2.85 crore have linked their PAN cards to their Aadhaar numbers.