Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said that PAN card will no longer be mandatory for tax payers filing their income tax returns if they can furnish their Aadhaar card details. Bringing in PAN-Aadhaar card interchangeability, Sitharaman said that those who do not have PAN to file income tax returns, can file the same using Aadhaar card.
The new proposal comes a day after the government passed the contentious Aadhaar Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. IT and Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the legislation aims to provide a mechanism to extend the welfare benefits to the poor, even allowing voluntary use to private sector to avail services like opening a bank account or a mobile connection.
