Thousands fail to file returns due to Aadhaar-PAN mismatch

Lalit Mohan

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Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, July 28

Thousands have not been able to file their income tax returns as there was some kind of mismatch in information on their PAN card and Aadhaar. Sources said in most of the cases, it was mismatch of alphabet between information on Aadhaar and PAN card.

Ishwar Chand, a retired government employee, had been filing his income tax returns on time for the past many years. However, this year he has been told by his lawyer that his return could not be filed due to mismatch between information on his Aadhaar and PAN card.

While talking to The Tribune, he said he never noticed that ‘w’ was missing from his name on his PAN card as earlier he was able to file returns. However, this year due to the missing word, he was not able to file income tax returns.

The septuagenarian said now his lawyer told him that his name on the PAN card would have to be rectified. “I have applied for rectification, but the new card will come after a month. It is for the first time that I am late in filing returns and this has caused me a lot of anxiety,” he said.

Pardeep Kumar, a resident of Kangra, has also not been able to file return as some information on his PAN did not match with Aadhaar. He has applied for rectification of information on the PAN card.

He said this year the government had also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on late filing of income tax return. “I wanted to file my return as earlier as possible. However, it is the new government directive of linking Aadhaar with PAN that has created problems,” he said.

Raj Kumar, another resident of Kangra, had a mismatch of information on his Aadhaar card. He said there were long queues to get information on their Aadhaar rectified.

“I have been told that it will take at least 15 days for the new Aadhaar to be rectified,” he said.

Yogesh Puri, an income tax lawyer, said income tax returns of thousands had not been filed in Kangra district due to mismatch of Aadhaar and PAN cards.

“The Income Tax Department has made a provision for those rectifying information on Aadhaar cards. People are issued a temporary slip after they apply for rectification of Aadhaar at authorised centres. They can file income tax return on the basis of that temporary slip,” he added.

However, the problem is that there are long queues at authorised centres for Aadhaar card changes. “Since lakhs of people are applying for changes, the server remains down for most of the time,” Puri said.

He said there was more problem for people who had mismatch on PAN card. In Kangra, it was taking at least about a month for rectification of PAN cards.

“The income tax returns of those who have applied for rectification of information on PAN cards are bound to get delayed,” he added.