The Union government on Friday extended the deadline to link Aadhaar with the Permanent Account Number to September 30. The earlier extension was scheduled to end on June 30.

It is mandatory for every person to quote Aadhaar number in their income tax return and the application for the allotment of PAN, provided they are eligible to get Aadhaar, according to Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act. If a resident, who has been allotted PAN as on July 1, 2017, fails to link it with Aadhaar, the PAN card will be deemed invalid after March 31, 2021.

If the PAN becomes inoperative, the resident may face various consequences, including paying higher tax deducted at source, or TDS, or tax collected at source, or TCS, or they may not be able to file an income tax return, reported Mint.

The Ministry of Finance also extended several other deadlines related to income tax compliance. The last date for employers to furnish TDS certificate in Form 16 to employees has been extended from July 15 to July 31. The date for filing TDS statements has been extended from June 30 to July 15.

The ministry also increased the deadline for payment deadline for Vivad Se Vishwas direct tax dispute resolution scheme by two months till August 31.

“The compliances to be made by the taxpayers such as investment, deposit, payment, acquisition, purchase, construction or such other action, by whatever name called, for the purpose of claiming any exemption under the provisions contained in Section 54 to 54GB of the Act, for which the last date of such compliance falls between 1st April, 2021 to 29th September, 2021 (both days inclusive), may be completed on or before 30th September, 2021,” it said.

The ministry also announced certain tax exemptions in view of the coronavirus pandemic. It said the tax exemption will be given on the amount received by a taxpayer from the employer or any other person for treatment of Covid-19 during Financial Year 2019-’20 and the subsequent years.

It also said that the government will provide tax exemption on ex-gratia payment received by family members of the deceased Covid-19 patient from the employer or other person. “The exemption shall be allowed without any limit for the amount received from the employer and the exemption shall be limited to Rs 10 lakh in aggregate for the amount received from any other persons,” the ministry added.