Government weighs the option to allow usage of Aadhaar Card for Income Tax return

NEW DELHI: The government is weighing the option to allow usage of Aadhaar Card for people who do not have a PAN card. The Ratan Watalpanel report for strengthening digital payment ecosystem has suggested that 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 Now.

CBDT and UIDAI will together look at discussing a mechanism that will enable this. Sources have indicated that currently, 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 added.

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.