As per a leading business daily report, this time around NRIs and other expatriates may miss the July 31st deadline for filing of Income tax returns owing to glitches in the system. The e-filing portal of the Income tax department is reportedly rejecting ITR filing of several expats without an Aadhaar card link.

The problem is being confronted even after the government notified that Aadhaar is not mandatory for filing of ITRs by NRI citizens or foreign nationals. The CBDT vide a notification on April 5 said "... Mandatory quoting of Aadhaar or Enrolment ID (for filing I-T return) shall apply only to a person who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number. As per the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016, only a resident individual is entitled to obtain Aadhaar....".

"... The requirement to quote Aadhaar as per section 139AA of the Income-tax Act shall not apply to an individual who is not a resident as per the Aadhaar Act, 2016", said the April 5 notification.

The term resident as per the Act applies to any individual who has been the resident of India for a period or periods of 182 days or more in a year's time that immediately precedes the date of application for aadhaar enrolment.

As per a financial daily, NRIs on mentioning their country of residence were not able to upload their tax returns. Further as per a tax expert, expatriates and NRIs "not tagged in the jurisdiction of the international tax ward" failed to upload their returns.
Despite many reporting's to the government, the snag in the e-filing system remains unaddressed.

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