With effect from September 1, 2019, Income Tax department would “suo motu” allot a fresh PAN to a person who files I-T Returns (ITR) with only Aadhaar number.
The Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT) notified on August 30, 2019, that a person who furnishes Aadhaar, as he/she does not have PAN, “shall be deemed” to have applied for allotment of PAN and the IT Department would allot a PAN to such people. This is in view of linking of the two databases (PAN and Aadhar) is now compulsory and backed by law. Last year, the Supreme Court of India had upheld Section 139 AA and declared that the Aadhaar scheme was constitutionally valid and also held that the biometric ID would remain mandatory for filing of I-T returns and allotment of PAN. Section 139 AA (2) of the I-T Act provides that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate their Aadhaar number to tax authorities.
As Aadhaar holds all vital information of an individual such as name, date of birth, gender, photo and address, and also biometrics, the same set of information is enough to issue a PAN card. The CBDT communication said that the person who files I-T Returns (ITR) with only Aadhaar number need not be required to apply or submit any more fresh documents for PAN. The tax department will “obtain demographic information of an individual from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)” for allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN) to person who files I-T Returns (ITR) with only Aadhaar number as part of a new arrangement to link the two databases.
