Aadhaar Now Mandatory for New PAN Cards from July 1

In a major step to curb tax evasion and identity-related fraud, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has announced that Aadhaar will be mandatory for obtaining a new PAN (Permanent Account Number) card starting July 1, 2025.

Until now, applicants could apply for a PAN card using documents such as a passport, voter ID, or birth certificate. However, under the new regulation, all Indian citizens must possess a valid Aadhaar number to apply for a new PAN card.

The CBDT has also reiterated that existing PAN holders must link their PAN with Aadhaar by December 31, 2025. As of now, approximately 605 million out of 740 million PAN holders have already completed the linkage.

Failure to link Aadhaar with PAN will result in the PAN becoming inoperative from January 2026, unless reactivated through proper linkage. The deadline has been extended multiple times in recent years due to technical and adoption challenges.

A senior CBDT official stated that the move aligns with the government’s broader digitalisation push and efforts to enhance compliance and transparency in tax filings.

The Aadhaar mandate follows repeated cases where individuals were found holding multiple PANs or misusing others’ PANs to evade taxes or fraudulently register under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system.

This regulation also complements the launch of PAN 2.0—an integrated, technology-driven platform aimed at unifying PAN and TAN (Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number) systems to improve compliance tracking, fraud detection, and service delivery.