Amendment of section 139A.
40. In section 139A of the Income-tax Act, with effect from the 1st day of September, 2019,––
(i) in sub-section (1), in clause (vi), for the words, brackets and figure “on behalf of the person referred to in clause (v)”, the following shall be substituted, namely:––
“on behalf of the person referred to in clause (v); or
(vii) who intends to enter into such transaction as may be prescribed by the Board in the interest of revenue,”;
(ii) after sub-section (5D), the following sub-section shall be inserted, namely:––
“(5E) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, every person who is required to furnish or intimate or quote his permanent account number under this Act, and who,––
(a) has not been allotted a permanent account number but possesses the Aadhaar number, may furnish or intimate or quote his Aadhaar number in lieu of the permanent account number, and such person shall be allotted a permanent account number in such manner as may be prescribed;
(b) has been allotted a permanent account number, and who has intimated his Aadhaar number in accordance with provisions of sub-section (2) of section 139AA, may furnish or intimate or quote his Aadhaar number in lieu of the permanent account number.”;
(iii) in sub-section (6), for the words “the General Index Register Number”, the words “the General Index Register Number or the Aadhaar number, as the case may be,” shall be substituted;
(iv) after sub-section (6), the following sub-sections shall be inserted, namely:––
“(6A) Every person entering into such transaction, as may be prescribed, shall quote his permanent account number or Aadhaar number, as the case may be, in the documents pertaining to such transactions and also authenticate such permanent account number or Aadhaar number, in such manner as may be prescribed.
(6B) Every person receiving any document relating to the transactions referred to in sub-section (6A), shall ensure that permanent account number or Aadhaar number, as the case may be, has been duly quoted in such document and also ensure that such permanent account number or Aadhaar number is so authenticated.”;
(v) in sub-section (8), in clauses (b) and (f), for the words “the General Index Register Number”, the words “the General Index Register Number or the Aadhaar number, as the case may be,” shall be substituted;
(vi) in the Explanation, for clause (a), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:––
‘(a) “Aadhaar number” shall have the meaning assigned to it in clause (a) of section 2 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016; (18 of 2016.)
(aa) “Assessing Officer” includes an income-tax authority who is assigned the duty of allotting permanent account numbers;
(ab) “authentication” means the process by which the permanent account number or Aadhaar number alongwith demographic information or biometric information of an individual is submitted to the income-tax authority or such other authority or agency as may be prescribed for its verification and such authority or agency verifies the correctness, or the lack thereof, on the basis of information available with it;’.
Notes on Clauses:
Clause 40 of the Bill seeks to amend section 139A of the Incometax Act relating to permanent account number.
Sub-section (1) of the said section, inter alia, provides that every person specified therein and who has not been allotted a permanent account number shall apply to the Assessing Officer for allotment of a permanent account number.
It is proposed to insert a new clause (vii) in the said sub-section so as to provide that every person, who intends to enter into such transaction, as may be prescribed by the Board in the interest of revenue, shall also apply to the Assessing Officer for allotment of a permanent account number.
It is further proposed to insert a new sub-section (5E) in the said section to provide that notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, every person who is required to furnish or intimate or quote his permanent account number under this Act, and who, has not been allotted a permanent account number and possesses the Aadhaar number, may, furnish or intimate or quote his Aadhaar number in lieu of permanent account number, and such person shall be allotted a permanent account number in such manner as may be prescribed. Further, every such person who has been allotted a permanent account number, and who has intimated his Aadhaar number in accordance with provisions of sub-section (2) of section 139AA may, furnish or intimate or quote his Aadhaar number in lieu of a permanent account number.
It is also proposed to amend sub-section (6) of the said section to provide that every person receiving document relating to a transaction prescribed under clause (c) of sub-section (5) shall also ensure that the permanent account number or the Aadhaar number, as the case may be, has been duly quoted.
It is also proposed to insert a new sub-section (6A) to provide that every person entering into such transaction, as may be prescribed, shall quote his permanent account number or Aadhaar number, as the case may be, in the documents pertaining to such transactions and also authenticate such permanent account number or Aadhaar number, as the case may be, in such manner as may be prescribed.
It is also proposed to insert a new sub-section (6B) to provide that every person receiving any documents relating to the transactions prescribed under sub-section (6A), shall ensure that permanent account number or Aadhaar number, as the case may be, has been duly quoted in the documents and also ensure that such permanent account number or Aadhaar number is authenticated in such manner as may be prescribed.
It is also proposed to empower the Board to prescribe by rules the categories of transactions in respect of which Aadhaar number shall be quoted by every person in documents pertaining to such transactions and the manner in which the Aadhaar number shall be quoted.
It is also proposed to define the expressions “Aadhaar number” and “authentication” in the Explanation to the said section.
These amendments will take effect from 1st September, 2019.
