For all income tax returns filed from this month, it is now mandatory to quote your Aadhaar number without which the ITR will not be processed by the Income Tax department. According to a new order issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the rules came into effect from April 1.

The order concerns all taxpayers who want to file income tax returns for the last financial year 2018-19, the last date for which is July 31. It is also mandatory to link PAN with Aadhaar card but the deadline has been extended by another six months to September 30.

5 things to know about the new Aadhaar rule for filing ITR:

1. In September 2018, the Supreme Court had upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar and also that of Section 139 AA (2) of the Income Tax Act, which states that every person who is eligible to obtain Aadhaar number will quote it while applying for PAN card as well as while filing ITR. “Thus, returns being filed either electronically or manually cannot be filed without quoting the Aadhaar number,” the March 31 circular said.

2. The order, however, provides relief to all those who filed ITR before April 1 without quoting Aadhaar number. The order said such returns would be processed without any issue being raised as to non-quoting of Aadhaar.

3. “In its drive to push Aadhaar as an anti-evasion measure, the CBDT has mandated the taxpayers who need to file their return on or after 1st April would need to quote Aadhaar in their returns even though the deadline for linking of Aadhar with PAN has been extended till 30th September, 2019,” Sandeep Sehgal, Director of Tax and Regulatory at Ashok Maheshwary & Associates LLP, said. He said the move will further empower the tax department to collect and corroborate the details from various sources.

4. According to the rules, if a tax payer is yet to get Aadhaar number, then he or she can provide the enrollment ID of Aadhaar application form issued to him at the time of enrollment.

5. From October, quoting Aadhaar number will not be enough for tax payers as it is mandatory for all those having PAN card to link it with Aadhaar by September 30. For the sixth time in a row, the government has extended the deadline for individuals to link their Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar. The last deadline was to expire on March 31.