New Delhi: Not linking Aadhaar with the permanent account number (PAN) will not cost a defaulter his PAN, but will land him in a list of suspects who may be suppressing income and will therefore face scrutiny, in line with a shift in the income tax department’s approach to widening the tax base. From 1 July, income tax payers cannot file their returns without quoting Aadhaar or the enrolment number issued at the time of applying for Aadhaar. Reluctance to link Aadhaar with PAN, therefore, will be seen as an attempt to deny information to the tax authority. According to an official in the tax department, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, more than 20 million income tax payers have already linked Aadhaar with PAN. At the end of March, 2017, there were about 65 million tax payers, although only about 50 million tax payers file returns.

Source: Mint July 04, 2017 06:37 UTC