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Aadhaar maybe must for filing tax returns

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The government is planning to make Aadhaar number mandatory for filing of income tax(I-T)returns from the next financialy ear and link all bank accounts to the uniqueidentity number by the end of this financial year.

Sources in the government said the work on both fronts was moving steadily and relevant amendments to the Income Tax Act,1961,in this Budget are under‘ active discussion’ to ensure mandatory link age of tax returns to Aadhaar numbers.At the same time,the Aadhaar-based authentication of beneficiariesis to b e mademandatory for delivery of subsidised grain under the public distribution system(PDS).

The decision for both these was taken in May at a meeting held at the Prime Minister’sOffice (PMO).It was at this meeting that the government also decided to link Aadhaar to delivery of big social schemes of the central government. In its May meeting,the PMO decided “Aadhaar numbers of individuals and office be arersofentitiesshouldbe obtainedinI-Treturns,starting assessmentyear2017-18.Necessary provisionsmaybemadeunderthe IncomeTaxAct/Rules.” Whilethelinkingoftaxreturns ofindividualsandcorporateentities mightbeeasier,theseedingof Aadhaarnumberstobankaccounts universallylaggedinrecentmonths duetothedemonetisationdrive.

Around 470-million bank accounts have been seeded with numbers of 385-million unique Aadhaar identities so far.Around 20-25million accounts are currently followup,based onweeklytargets at the branchlevel,which have to be reported back.
Business Standard New Delhi,20th January 2016

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