Why Aadhaar Must For Filing Tax Returns, Explains Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said in the Lok Sabha that the reason to make Aadhaar number a compulsion is to get rid from those who have created extra Permanent Account Number or PAN cards for tax evasion. The government yesterday proposed to make Aadhaar mandatory for filing returns and PAN applications in a bid to curb black money flow and push the country towards digital transactions. It was done through an amendment to the Finance Bill. "With Aadhaar, we can stop a person from creating extra PAN cards as it is backed by biometrics like finger prints and iris scans," said Mr Jaitley. Therefore, the chances of tax fraud or evasion cases are low, he added.

"We have seen some examples where people own at least five PAN cards for tax fraud purposes and because of that the government has proposed to provide Aadhaar number while filing returns. And, for those who don't have it, they can always apply for it.

"Around 98 per cent of adults in the country have Aadhaar number and more than 108 crore Aadhaar cards have been issued," Mr Jaitley stated.

The finance minister also said that a stage may come in future when unique identity card (Aadhaar) will become a single card as there are many countries where such situation exits like social security number in America.

The government is working on linking all bank accounts to Aadhaar numbers. From April 1 onwards, Aadhaar IDs will be a pre-requisite for opening an Employee Provident Fund account that helps you collate a pension.

Any PAN card not linked to an Aadhaar identity will be considered invalid from July 1. PAN is essential for basic financial transactions like receiving a salary.

Meanwhile, after two-day debate, the Lok Sabha cleared the Finance Bill today along with 40 official amendments, including the cap on cash transactions from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 2 lakh from April 1.