New Delhi: The Income Tax Department will automatically issue Permanent Account Number (PAN) to a taxpayer using Aadhaar number for filing returns as part of a new arrangement to link the two databases.
According to a notification issued August 30 by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), a person who furnishes Aadhaar, as they do not have PAN, ‘shall be deemed’ to have applied for allotment of PAN and they will not be required to apply or submit any more documents. The rule has come into effect from September 1, the notification stated.
The notification said the tax department will ‘obtain demographic information of an individual from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)’ for allotment of (PAN), a 10-digit alphanumeric identifier issued by it. It should be stated here that the CBDT frames policy for the tax department.
CBDT chairman PC Mody had told this agency in an interview in July that the department would ‘suo motu’ allot a fresh PAN to a person who files I-T Returns (ITR) with only Aadhaar as part of a new arrangement to link the two databases.
“In cases where Aadhaar is being quoted and PAN is not there, we could possibly think on the terms of allotting a PAN to the person (who is filing income tax return). The law provides that the assessing officer can suo motu allot PAN. So, if Aadhaar is being quoted without PAN, I give him the PAN. It becomes linked,” the CBDT chairman had said.
Linking of the two databases is now compulsory and backed by law, the CBDT chief had added.
While Aadhaar is issued by UIDAI to a resident, PAN is a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted by the tax department to a person, firm or entity. 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 required to get a new PAN.
As per data, over 120 crore Aadhaar numbers have been issued in the country and about 41 crore PAN numbers have been generated. Out of these, more than 22 crore PANs are linked with Aadhaar.
PTI