The Finance Act, 2017 had inserted a new Section 139AA under the Income-tax Act, 1961 requiring every person to quote Aadhaar number in the return of income with effect from 1st day of July, 2017. If any person does not possess the Aadhaar Number but he had applied for the Aadhaar card then he can quote Enrolment ID of Aadhaar application Form in the ITR.
It may be noted that firms are also required to Quote Aadhaar number of their Partner/members in new ITR 5. Further, in case of trust Aadhaar number of Author(s) / Founder(s) / Trustee(s) / Manager(s), etc., are required to be specified in new ITR 7.
However, the Central Government has issued a Notification No. 37, Dated 11/5/2017 whereby it has been notified that the provisions of section 139AA shall not apply to an individual who does not possess the Aadhaar number or the Enrolment ID and is:-
(i) residing in the States of Assam, Jammu and Kashmir and Meghalaya;
(ii) a non-resident as per the Income-tax Act, 1961;
(iii) of the age of 80 years or more at any time during the previous year, i.e., super senior citizen;
(iv) not a citizen of India.
Hence, it will not be mandatory for an individual (as notified above) to quote his/her Aadhaar Number in return of income.