75% of PANs not linked with Aadhaar

CHENNAI: If you are one of those yet to link your PAN card with Aadhaar as directed by the Income Tax department, you are among the majority. Data tabled by ministry of finance in the Lok Sabha on Friday shows just 25% of PAN card holders had linked it with Aadhaar as on July 17.
There were 32.41 crore PAN cards in the country as on July 17, the ministry said in a reply to a unstarred question in the Lower House.Of this, only 8.19 crore were linked with authenticated Aadhaar.
In reply to another question, it said 11.46 lakh PAN cards were weeded out of the system after it was found that multiple numbers had been allotted to one person. Also 1,544 PANs were marked false as they were in the names of people who were non-existent.
Citizens have been getting SMSes from the I-T department saying linking PAN with Aadhaar is mandatory for filing returns.
The due date for filing I-T returns for individuals is July 31. As per section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, all those eligible to obtain the Aadhaar should quote it in their I-T returns after July 1.