Government may allow using Aadhar Card instead of PAN card

People who don’t have PAN card may now get a relief and use an Aadhaar card as the the government is looking at the options to allow usage of Aadhaar Card for people who do not have a PAN card.

The idea has been suggested by the Ratan Watalpanel report for strengthening digital payment ecosystem and according to the report, the government could follow the lead of developed nations in a bid to boost its tax base.

"The committee studied that in countries like the USA, the tax return can be filed with social security numbers alone without quoting the TIN number or the tax identification number. While we do not have such a provision now, this will help in bringing more people under the tax net", sources told ET.

To make this happen, CBDT and UIDAI will together look at discussing a mechanism that will enable this.

According to the sources, the data provided by Aadhaar is insufficient for tax purposes. "It is being worked out to see how the data on the Aadhaar platform can be expanded to allow the filing of tax returns" another source told ET.

The government may seek the attorney general's view to see if amendments to the income tax act are made to allow the filing of returns via Aadhaar. Meanwhile, the Watal committee has also recommended that Aadhaar be made compulsory while furnishing tax returns.