Aadhaar linking must from July 1

New Delhi: The government on Saturday made it clear that the linking of the Aadhaar and the PAN will be a “must” for filing Income Tax Returns and obtaining PAN from July 1. The assertion comes a day after the Supreme Court upheld the validity of an I-T Act provision making Aadhaar mandatory for allotment of PAN cards and for ITR filing, but had put a partial stay on its implementation till a Constitution bench addressed the issue of right to privacy. The Central Board of Direct Taxes said the order had only given a “partial relief” to those who do not have an Aadhaar.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on Saturday made it clear that that the Aadhaar card will be compulsory while applying for a Permanent Account Number (PAN) and for filing income tax returns from July 1, 2017 onwards.

In what seemed more like an assertion rather than a simple statement, the CBDT 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 ITRs as well as for applications for PAN. Everyone who has been allotted PAN 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.”

The terse directive comes a day after the Supreme Court upheld the validity of an I-T Act provision making Aadhaar mandatory for allotment of PAN cards and for ITR filing, but had put a partial stay on its implementation till a Constitution bench addressed the issue of right to privacy.

The CBDT, which is the policy-making body for the I-T department, said the apex court’s order had only given a “partial relief ” to those who do not have an Aadhaar or an Aadhaar enrolment ID, and the taxman, hence, “will not cancel” the PAN of such individuals.