Now, Aadhaar may be made mandatory for buying shares, mutual funds

When the new rule will come into effect and whether Aadhaar will completely replace PAN is not known

The government might soon make Aadhaar mandatory for buying shares and mutual funds to prevent the conversion of black money into white through the stock market, the Economic Times reported on Thursday.

According to the financial daily, the government and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) are planning to link financial market transactions to Aadhaar after, according to two sources cited by the report, the former came to realise that the permanent account number (PAN) might not be sufficient in putting an end to tax evasion.

"We have been told that making Aadhaar compulsory is in the offing," a top official with a financial services firm told the financial daily. (economic policy)

However, according to a CEO of a brokerage firm, who spoke to the financial daily on the condition of anonymity, the move could unsettle some "regional players" who could see a "dip in activity even in IPO market". However, the source said this dip would be temporary. According to the unnamed CEO, these players would be worried over how many clients would remain once Aadhaar is made mandatory.

According to the report, when such a compulsory linking will come into effect is unclear. Further, it is not known yet whether the Aadhaar will serve as the sole identification number for financial market transactions, thereby replacing the PAN.

Is PAN not enough?

Brokers who spoke to the financial daily said that PAN has not been able to prevent people from using the stock market for money laundering. They said that multiple PANs and fake demat accounts were being used to bring in black money into the stock market.

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Over 1 million PANs deleted: Check if your card is still active

A person can not be registered with more than one PAN

number

As on July 27, 11,44,211 duplicate PANS have been identified. PAN is the key identifier of taxable entity and aggregator of all financial transactions undertaken by one person.

More than one million permanent account numbers (PANs) were deleted or de-activated by the government, in a move to check fake identities. Reportedly, as on July 27, 11,44,211 duplicate PANS have been identified, said Indian Express. PAN is the key identifier of taxable entity and aggregator of all financial transactions undertaken by one person.

As per government rules, a person cannot be registered with more than one PAN number. The Indian Express reported that the government also detected fake PAN cards which were allotted to non-existing individuals or to people who have submitted false information about themselves.

How to check if your PAN is still active

1. Visit the Income Tax e-filing portal - www.incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in

2. On the homepage, under the ‘Services’ tab, click ‘Know your PAN’

3. The website will take you to a new page where you will be asked to enter - name, gender, religion, date of birth, registered mobile number and click ‘Submit’.

Over 1 million PANs deleted: Check if your card is still active

4. Enter the OTP or one-time password received on the registered mobile number and click on Validate.

5. If your PAN is valid, it will show as ‘Active’ under the remarks column.

Over 1 million PANs deleted: Check if your card is still active

PANs were deactivated during 2004-2007 too.....

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