Permanent account number

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This article is about Permanent Account Number. For other uses of the acronym PAN, see PAN.

Permanent Account Number (PAN) is a national identification number, issued to all taxpayers of India whose income is taxable. This number is issued by the Income Tax Office.

This number is required for many activities such as opening an account, getting a phone line, receiving salary or professional fees. The primary purpose of PAN is to prevent tax evasion by keeping a track of monetary transactions. The PAN is unique, national, and permanent. It is unaffected by a change of address, even between states.

This number can be considered to be similar to Social security number issued in United States to citizens and other legal residents.

[edit] Structure and validation

  • PAN structure is as follows: AAAAA9999A: First five characters are letters, next 4 numerals, last character letter
  • Each deductee is uniquely identified by the PAN
  • If the PAN does not follow the above structure, then the PAN will be shown invalid
  • The fourth character of the PAN must be one of the following, depending on the type of assessee:
C — Company
P — Person
H — Hindu Undivided Family (HUF)
F — Firm
A — Association of Persons (AOP)
T — AOP (Trust)
B — Body of Individuals (BOI)
L — Local Authority
J — Artificial Juridical Person
G — Govt
  • The fifth character of the PAN is the first character in the surname of the person to whom the PAN belongs.

Permanent Account Number is an identity document/number which can also be issued to non-taxpayers.

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[edit] External links