The Government has made it mandatory to link existing Aadhaar numbers with Permanent Account Number (PAN) of taxpayers with effect from July 1.

Amending income tax rules and notifying the same, the Government has also made quoting of the 12-digit biometric Aadhaar or the enrolment ID a must at the time of application of permanent account number (PAN). The revenue department said the rules will come into force from July 1, 2017. 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley through an amendment to tax proposals in the Finance Bill for 2017-18 had made Aadhaar mandatory for filing income tax returns and provided for linking of PAN with Aadhaar to check tax evasion through use of multiple PAN cards.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has said the linking of Aadhaar and PAN will be a must for filing of income tax returns and obtaining PAN from July 1. As many as 2.07 crore taxpayers have already linked their Aadhaar with PAN.

There are over 25 crore PAN card holders in the country while Aadhaar has been issued to 111 crore people. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had upheld the validity of an I-T Act provision making Aadhaar mandatory for allotment of PAN cards and ITR filing, but had put a partial stay on its implementation till a Constitution bench addressed the issue of right to privacy. #casansaar (Source - NewsonAir)