The government is considering the possibility of extending the July 31 deadline for filing income tax return, a senior bureaucrat in the finance ministry told ET Now.And, if a decision is taken to to extend the July 31 deadline, it is unlikely to be communicated to the public till the last day as the taxman does not want assesses to get lackadaisical."Taxpayers this year have been facing many new difficulties, so prima facie there is a genuine case to extend the deadline," said this government official.For example, chartered accountants are overworked and have been busy with the transition to the goods and services tax. "Chartered Accountants immediate priority has been to help their business clients transition for GST , and not filing personal income tax returns ," said the source.Another reason could very well be the requirement to link the Aadhar with the Pan Card to file income tax returns. "Önly 45% of the registered taxpayers have so far linked their Aadhaar with PAN,"said an official.Also taxpayers in flood-affected states like Assam may get a longer extention than other states.