Union Budget 2019: New Aadhaar, PAN Card rules you need to know to pay your income tax

Union Budget 2019: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech last Friday had announced that taxpayers who don't own a PAN card (Permanent Account Number) can now file Income Tax returns with their Aadhaar Card also. The FM allowed the interchangeability of PAN and Aadhaar card for filing tax returns.

"More than 120 crore Indians now have Aadhaar card, therefore for ease of taxpayers I propose to make PAN and Aadhar interchangeable and allow those who don't have PAN to file returns by simply quoting Aadhaar number and use it wherever they require to use PAN," the Finance Minister had said in her Union Budget 2019 speech.

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Here's all you need to know about new Aadhaar, PAN rules:-

1. India's national biometric ID Aadhaar can now be quoted for cash transactions of more than Rs 50,000 and all other purposes where traditionally income tax PAN was a must.
2. Banks and other institutions will make backend upgrades to allow acceptance of Aadhaar in all places where quoting PAN is now mandatory, Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey told PTI. This follows the Budget allowing interchangeability of PAN and Aadhaar for ease of compliance of taxpayers.
3. Once this proposal gets the green light in the Parliament, individuals will be able to use Aadhaar cards instead of PAN cards to conduct financial transactions, for instance, mutual fund investments, buying gold, and others. The move is aimed at improving tax compliance and ease the process of tax payment for taxpayers.
4. Asked if Aadhaar can be used for deposit or withdrawal of cash worth more than Rs 50,000 from bank accounts in place of PAN, Pandey said, "There also you can use Aadhaar".
5. On account of the new arrangement to link the two databases, the tax authorities will themselves allocate a new PAN to people who file their I-T returns using their Aadhaar card, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman Pramod Chandra Mody said Sunday. He added that the PAN is "certainly not dead" moreover the Finance Minister's announcement regarding the interchangeability of the two databases is an "additional facility" which will assure their linkage as it is mandatory under the law.
6. However, in instances where Aadhaar is being furnished 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)," Mody added.
7. At present, it is mandatory to quote PAN number for filing ITR without which the tax cannot be filed. And, this year in April, the government further amended the rule and made linkage of Aadhaar and PAN number mandatory for filing ITR returns.
8. Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act says that every person having PAN as on July 1, 2017, and eligible to obtain Aadhaar, must intimate his Aadhaar number to the tax authorities.
9. After the Supreme Court upheld Section 139AA of the I-T Act, the government in March extended the deadline for linking PAN with biometric ID Aadhaar by six months till September 30.
10. However, quoting of Aadhaar is mandatory for filing income tax returns (ITRs), following the Supreme Court order.
11. The apex court, in September last year, had declared the Centre's flagship Aadhaar scheme as constitutionally valid and held that the biometric ID would remain mandatory for filing of I-T returns and allotment of PAN.
12. Aadhaar is a 12-digit number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) issued to the residents of India. It is backed by biometric data of individuals.
13. PAN is is a unique 10-digit alphanumeric identity allotted to each taxpayer by the Income Tax Department under the supervision of the Central Board of Direct Taxes. It also serves as an identity proof. PAN is mandatory for financial transactions such as receiving taxable salary or professional fees, sale or purchase of assets above specified limits, buy mutual funds and more.
14. In order to curb black money, quoting of PAN is mandatory for cash transactions, such as hotel or foreign travel bills, exceeding Rs 50,000. PAN is also mandatory on purchase of immovable property of over Rs 10 lakh.
15. Of the over 41 crore PANs issued, 22 crore have been linked to Aadhaar.

Also Read: Union Budget 2019: Don't have PAN card? Now pay income tax using Aadhaar

Also Watch: Union Budget 2019: Now pay income tax using Aadhaar

 (With inputs from PTI)