- CBDT authorized limited tax-verification sharing with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on September 15, 2026.
- The system will return only Yes, No, or Not available, not full income-tax files or assessment records.
- Requests must include PAN and/or Aadhaar plus the relevant year; missing linkage can block the check.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes, or CBDT, authorized the Director General of Income Tax (Systems), Delhi, to share limited tax-verification results with the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. The order, issued on September 15, 2026, names the Joint Secretary (Marketing) as the requesting authority.
The system will not send complete income-tax files. It will return a narrow status response: “Yes/No/Not available.” That format lets the petroleum ministry check whether specified conditions are met without receiving the underlying tax records.
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The authorization covers information tied to a person’s tax identity and a particular tax period. The request must identify the person before the tax administration conducts the check.
The order cites Section 258(1) of the Income-tax Act, 2025, read with Section 536(2)(j), as its legal basis. Those provisions appear together in the authorization, which designates the systems directorate as the specified authority for furnishing the permitted information.
Its file reference is F. No. 225/305/2016-ITA.II (Part). The recipient is the Joint Secretary (Marketing), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
Five checks will produce status flags instead of tax files
The arrangement covers five defined questions. Each answer concerns the status requested, not the disclosure of a complete return or assessment record.
| Check authorized under the arrangement | Possible information sought |
|---|---|
| Return filing | Whether an Income Tax Return was filed |
| Government employment | Whether the person is a Government Servant |
| Income level | Whether total income is above the mutually agreed threshold |
| Income-tax payment | Whether income tax payable after rebate was paid |
| Professional tax | Whether professional tax was paid |
The threshold for the income check will be agreed between the participating authorities. The authorization does not state a numerical amount.
The payment check refers to income tax payable after rebate. It does not describe a separate check framed around tax payable after deductions.
Requests must carry identity numbers and a tax period
The petroleum ministry must provide a PAN and/or Aadhaar number with the relevant Assessment Year/Tax Year. The systems authority will use those details to process the request and return the permitted status result.
The response has three possible forms. It can indicate “Yes,” “No” or “Not available.”
A missing PAN-Aadhaar link can stop the check. In that situation, the response will state that information “cannot be provided due to the lack of PAN-Aadhaar linkage.”
That limitation ties the verification channel to the identity information supplied by the requesting ministry. It also prevents the system from producing the requested result when the required PAN-Aadhaar connection is absent.
The exchange requires a formal agreement and deletion controls
The systems directorate must execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the notified petroleum ministry authority before the arrangement operates. The agreement must address how data transfer will take place.
It must also cover confidentiality, safe preservation and deletion after use. Those requirements place controls around information received and retained during the verification process.
The timetable and exchange mechanism will be settled in consultation with the ministry. The authorization therefore establishes the permitted channel, while the participating authorities will determine its operating arrangements.
The order does not turn the ministry into a recipient of unrestricted tax information. Its stated model limits the response to the specified checks and the three available status outcomes.
The authorization links tax administration with a government department
The Central Board of Direct Taxes operates within the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance. Its order assigns the Director General of Income Tax (Systems), Delhi, the task of furnishing the information.
On the receiving side, the Joint Secretary (Marketing), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, is the named authority. The two offices will therefore connect through a designated tax-systems authority and a designated petroleum-ministry authority.
The arrangement fits a wider 2026 pattern of structured information-sharing between tax administration and government departments for verification. Those arrangements use limited response flags rather than full tax-file disclosure.
The September 16, 2026 source date records the operative details of the authorization. A September 17, 2026 order summary identifies the same September 15 authorization and its file reference.
The next administrative step is consultation on the timetable and exchange mechanism. The order assigns that work to the authorities involved in the arrangement.
