The Government of India’s justification for removing any distinction between a permanent account number allotted based on the Aadhaar and one allotted based on identification documents other than Aadhaar is examined. The government claims that this measure will end black money and money-laundering. Whether Aadhaar linkage to PAN truly identifies those holding financial instruments and undertaking financial transactions and whether it will save India the embarrassment of incorrect reporting as part of the nation’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and Common Reporting Standard obligations are explored.
