No plan to link Aadhaar with GST, says Minister Santosh Gangwar

The government does not propose to link Aadhaar number with the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.

However, it is mandatory to quote Aadhaar or enrolment number of Aadhaar application form for making an application for allotment of Permanent Account Number (PAN) from July 1.

“There is no formal proposal to link Aadhaar with GST. Under Section 25(6) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, every person shall have a PAN issued under the Income Tax Act, 1961, in order to be eligible for grant of registration under Goods and Services Tax.

Whereas, Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961, provides for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar/enrolment ID of Aadhaar application form for making an application for allotment of PAN with effect from July 1, 2017,” Gangwar said in a written reply to a question.

 In a reply to another question, Gangwar said the government is in the process of constituting an authority to examine whether benefits of reduced prices under the GST regime have been extended to the people.