On 10th June, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) a policy-making body of the Income Tax department made it clear that Aadhaar would be compulsory for filing of income tax returns or obtaining a new PAN from July 1. Section 139AA(1) of the Income Tax Act was introduced by the Finance Act, 2017 provides for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar/Enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form, for filing of return of income and for making an application for allotment of PAN with effect from 1st July, 2017.
The CBDT statement said: “From July 1, 2017 onwards every person eligible to obtain Aadhaar must quote their Aadhaar number or their Aadhaar Enrolment ID number for filing of income tax returns as well as for applications for PAN.” Further, it stated that: “Everyone who has been allotted a permanent account number as on the 1st day of July, 2017, and who has Aadhaar number or is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number, shall intimate his Aadhaar number to income tax authorities for the purpose of linking PAN with Aadhaar whereas for non-intimation of Aadhaar, the PAN allotted to the person shall be deemed to be invalid from a date to be notified by the Central government.”
In case of "non- compliance" or where a person does not possess Aadhaar the CBDT said: “Only a partial relief by the court has been given to those who do not have Aadhaar and who do not wish to obtain Aadhaar for the time being, that their PAN will not be cancelled so that other consequences under the Income Tax Act for failing to quote PAN may not arise.”
Apart from visiting the official e-filing website of the department to link the two identities, a taxpayer can link his Aadhaar and PAN through SMS as well. The Income Tax Department has urged taxpayers to link their Aadhaar with their PAN, using an SMS-based facility. One can send an SMS to either 567678 or 56161.
