Aadhaar Mandatory for PAN Application From 1st July,2017

Recently, lot of announcements were made by the government regarding Aadhaar and PAN such as Aadhaar mandatory for IT returns, linking Aadhaar and PAN, and so on. To add to this, a new notification has been released recently whereby Aadhaar has to be quoted mandatorily while applying for PAN. If you do not have Aadhaar but has applied for it, then you can also quote your 28-digit enrolment ID.

The facility to quote an Aadhaar Enrolment ID in place of Aadhaar number from the time it has been withdraw, effective 1st October 2024. Only the actual Aadhaar number is now accepted on new PAN applications. Some individuals are exempted from the mandatory requirement an to quote Aadhaar if they do not have Aadhaar number. This includes residents of Jammu and Kashmir, Assam or Meghalaya; non-residents under Income Tax Act; residents who are above 80 years during the relevant year; and individuals who are not the citizens of India. 

People who were allotted PAN before 1st October 2024 through Aadhaar Enrolment ID were required to link their Aadhaar number by 31st December 2025. In case if Aadhaar is not intimated by the prescribed date, a fee not exceeding Rs 1,000 is payable at the time the Aadhaar is finally intimated. There are consequences due to non-linking of PAN with Aadhaar such as no tax refund will be issues, no interest will be paid on refund for the inoperative period, tax deducted at source will be at higher rate as per Section 206AA, and tax collected at source will be at a higher rate as per Section 206CC till the PAN is made operative again. 

Also, you have to mention your name as mentioned in Aadhaar card in the PAN application form. New columns have been inserted in the PAN application Form to mention your Aadhaar enrolment ID (if applied for) and name as per Aadhaar card. This will avoid chances of mismatch in names in PAN and Aadhaar as many people recently faced problems in linking Aadhaar with PAN due to name mismatch.

Form 49A and 49AA (PAN application forms ) have been replaced by Form 93, 94, 95 and 96. Form 93 is for residents who are citizens of India. Form 94 for companies/ entities based in India, Form 95 for individuals who are not citizens of India. These updated forms are are notified as per Rule 158 and Section 262 of the Income tax Act 2025. 

Additionally, initials alone are not accepted in the name field of the PAN application. In case if record of Aadhaar shows initials, they will be accepted only if the applicant also provided the full expanded name with supporting documents.

Besides this, you have to give proof for date of birth while applying for PAN. Currently proof of identity and proof of address is required. But from 1st July 2017, you also have to furnish the proof of date of birth such as birth certificate, matriculation certificate etc. (As per the CBDT Notification 56/2017 dated 27th June,2017)