New Delhi: The income tax department on Friday exempted a few classes of assessees from the requirement of compulsorily quoting the Aadhaar number while applying for a Permanent Account Number (PAN) or while filing tax returns.
The relief is available to non-residents, those who are not citizens of India, those who are 80 years of age and over and to the people living in Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and Meghalaya, a notification said.
Aadhaar is the 12-digit number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), while PAN is the ten-digit alphanumeric number issued by the income tax department.
The requirement of compulsory quoting Aadhaar for filing tax returns and for applying for or retaining PAN was introduced in the Finance Act 2017, with effect from 1 July.
The provision said that the government may exempt certain classes of individuals from this requirement. Friday’s notification is towards that end.
PTI reported that the tax department has so far linked over 1.18 crore Aadhaar numbers with its PAN database.
A petition challenging mandatory use of Aadhaar for PAN and filing income tax returns is pending in the Supreme Court. The apex court has reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the provision in the Income Tax Act making Aadhaar mandatory.
.