Income Tax Return 2019: Compulsory mention of Aadhaar in ITR

ITR Filing 2019-20: While filing Income Tax Return (ITR) as per the current income tax laws, one is required to mention one’s Aadhaar number. Along with that taxpayers are also required to link their PAN with their Aadhaar number. If the Aadhaar and PAN are not linked, taxpayers will not be able to file their income tax return.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had some time back notified that from April 1, 2019, it is mandatory for taxpayers to mention Aadhaar number while filing ITR as required under section 139AA(1)(ii). Further, CBDT notified that tax return cannot be filed without mentioning Aadhaar number, be it electronically or manually.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget 2019 proposed to make PAN and Aadhaar interchangeable, which means those who do not have PAN will still be able to file their income tax return using just their Aadhaar number. When the proposition is passed, one can also mention one’s Aadhaar number wherever they are required to compulsorily mention PAN.

Adding Aadhaar number in your Income Tax Return

Additional spaces have been provided in the ITR forms for taxpayers to mention their Aadhaar number in the ITR, where he/she is required to fill the Aadhaar number there. However, in the case wherein an individual has applied for the Aadhaar card but has not received the same yet, he can mention the enrolment ID (28 digit id) in the ITR form.

If one is eligible to file ITR-1 online on the website incometaxefiling.gov.in and have previously quoted one’s Aadhaar number in the tax return, then it is likely that the Aadhaar number will already be pre-filled. Of the ITR-1 ‘Part-A General information’ will have this information pre-filled. One should, however, cross-check their actual Aadhaar number with the Aadhaar number mentioned in the form.

Note that if an individual is filing his income tax return using Java utility or Excel, then he needs to manually enter the Aadhaar details in the form.

Earlier it was not required to mention the Aadhaar number in ITR and link PAN with Aadhaar. This was later introduced and announced in Budget 2017.

However, according to the CBDT circular issued on March 31, 2019, it was clarified that income tax return filed prior to April 1, 2019, without Aadhaar number will be taken up for processing without any opposing action against the taxpayer.