The Central Board of Direct Taxes on Saturday made it clear that Aadhaar would be compulsory for filing of income tax returns or obtaining a new PAN from July 1, reported NDTV. The CBDT, the policy-making body of the Income Tax department, issued a statement on Saturday even as the Supreme Court said on Friday that those who do not have Aadhaar cannot be forced to get it to file I-T returns.

The CBDT said the apex court had only given ‘partial relief’ to those who did not have an Aadhaar card or an Aadhaar enrolment ID. It said that as a result of Friday’s verdict, the I-T department would not cancel the PAN of those without Aadhaar.

The CBDT statement said that from July 1, 2017, every person who has an Aadhaar or is eligible for one must quote their Aadhaar number or their Aadhaar enrolment ID number for filing of I-T returns as well as for linking PAN with Aadhaar. The Supreme Court had on Friday ruled that even though those without Aadhaar cannot be forced to get it, those who possess an Aadhaar number must link it with PAN for filing I-T returns. “Though fake PANs is a threat, Parliament should consider ‘toning down’ the consequences of Aadhaar-PAN linking,” the court said.

The CBDT said in its order that a person who does not have Aadhaar card or does not wish to obtain one will not have his PAN cancelled, in order that ‘other consequences of the I-T Act will not arise’. But for filing of I-T returns or to obtain a new PAN, Aadhaar will be necessary.

Senior officials of the CBDT were quoted as saying that the Supreme Court’s Friday order was “studied” by a high-level team from the Law Ministry, Finance Ministry, CBDT and the Income Tax Department after which the statement was issued.

Earlier in the year, the government had passed last-minute amendments to its Finance Bill making Aadhaar mandatory for those filing Income Tax returns. The provision made it mandatory to link PAN cards, which are used for income tax returns, to Aadhaar, and also said that those who file I-T returns without an Aadhaar-linked PAN card would have their PAN declared invalid.