All about your PAN Card

PAN stands for Permanent Account Number. It’s issued by income tax department and treated as an important identity proof in India. Purpose of issuing Pan Card is to have a universal identification number which can be linked to financial transactions and indirectly prevent tax evasion by keeping track of your all high value transactions.

Permanent Account Number

A typical Permanent Account NUmber is of 10 digits. The first 3 digits are alphabets within the range of AAA to ZZZ.

The fourth alphabet represents the type of person i.e.

C — Company
P — Person (Individual)
H — HUF (Hindu Undivided Family)
F — Firm
A — Association of Persons (AOP)
T — AOP (Trust)
B — Body of Individuals (BOI)
L — Local Authority
J — Artificial Judicial Person
G — Government

The fifth alphabet represents either the surname or the last name of the applicant. If the applicant is a company/HUF/ Firm/ AOP/ BOI/ Local Authority/ Artificial Jurdical Person/ Govt/Entity/ Trust/ Society then the fifth alphabet will represent the name.

The next four digits of numeric numbers are a sequential number within the range of 0001 to 9999.

The last alphabet is an alphabetic check digit.

How to apply

For getting a PAN card in India you need to income tax department through their authorized TIN facilitation centers. You can visit any of the TIN facilitation centers nearer to your location or UTI processing unit. These agencies are processing PAN card on behalf of NSDL (income tax department). You can also apply it online.

You can also apply online by using online services of NSDL. To apply online you can visit this website. After online form submission and payment of your application fee, you need to send the acknowledgement copy duly signed, affixed with photograph along with demand draft. Proof of address and proof of identity as applicable to you should be attached with it. You need to send your acknowledgement along with other details to following address;

Income Tax PAN Services Unit,
NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited,
5th floor, Mantri Sterling, Plot No. 341,
Survey No. 997/8, Model Colony,
Near Deep Bungalow Chowk, Pune -411016

While sending your application form super scribes the envelope with “Application for PAN – acknowledgement number” i.e. if your acknowledgement number is 00000000001 then you should write “Application for PAN – 00000000001” on the top of the envelope in which you are sending your acknowledgement.

You can use online services of following organizations to avail a permanent account number;

• UTI
• Emudhra

How to apply through a TIN FC or UTI

If you don’t want to use online services then you can process your PAN card application at a TIN facilitation center or UTI approved centers. You need to visit any of the TIN facilitation centers with two passport size photographs, address and identity proof. Fill up the application form and make cash payment of Rs.96 towards your application fee. They will issue an acknowledgement. Within 15 days time, you will be getting your PAN card at the address mentioned in application form.

Following things one must know before applying for a Permanent Account Number;

Application form

If you are an Indian citizen/Indian company/entities incorporated in India/unincorporated entities formed in India then you need to apply in form 49A for a Permanent Account Number.

If you are not being a citizen of India/entities incorporated outside India/unincorporated entities formed outside India  then apply with application form 49AA.

Address proof and identity proof

One of the reasons for rejecting your application form is, the name appearing in proof of identity and proof of address does not match with the name in application form. You need to be very careful while typing/writing your name in the application form. To know the details of documents accepted as identity proof and address proof click here.

Signature/thumb impression

You have to put your signature within the box. On the left side of the photograph affixed you need to sign across the photo and for the photograph affixed on the right side of the form you need to sign within the box below the photograph (photograph should be within the small box provided. If you have a bigger photo then cut it to make it smaller).

If pan card is applied for a person other than an individual then application form need to signed by the authorized signatory and proper seal or stamp need to be affixed along with it.

Photograph

Two passport size photo graphs are required for your pan application if you are an individual. If you have any scratches on your photo and because of that the photo is not clearly visible then there are chances of rejecting your application. If you are applying for a pan card as a person other than individual then no photograph is required.

Fees for processing your application form

The application fee for processing your pan card application is Rs. 105 (Rs. 93 + 12.36% service tax).

If you are a NRI then the application fee is Rs.1069 (application fee of Rs. 85 + dispatch charges of Rs. 866 + 12.36% services tax)

You can make payment in any mode. Following modes are suggested for an online application through NSDL site;

• Demand draft (it should be drawn in favour of ‘NSDL-PAN’ payable at Mumbai)
• Cheque (it should be drawn in favour of ‘NSDL-PAN’)
• Credit card/debit card
• Net banking

If you have mentioned any of your address as a foreign address then the payment can be made only by way of credit card/debit card and demand draft payable in Mumbai.

For demand draft payments you need to write the acknowledgment number on the backside of such demand draft.

For payment through cheque the applicant need to deposit a local cheque at any branches of HDFC bank. NSDLPAN should be written on the deposit slip.

If you cannot make payment for the online application then you can take help of following persons to make the payment on your behalf;

Category of Applicant	Payment by Credit Card / Debit Card / Net Banking can be made by / for
Individual	Self, immediate family members (parents, spouse, children)
HUF	Karta of the HUF
Company	Any Director of the Company
Firm / Limited Liability Partnership	Any Partner of the Firm / Limited Liability Partnership
Association of Person(s) / Body of Individuals / Association of Person(s) Trust / Artificial Juridical Person / Local Authority	Authorized Signatory covered under section 140 of Income Tax Act, 1961

Additional amount of 2% will be charged to you for payment gateway facility if you are making payment through a credit or debit card. If the payment is through net banking then 4%+service tax will be charged to you for payment gateway facility.

If you are applying PAN card through a TIN facilitation center or UTI then no need to go through all this. You can make cash payment and submit the application there to get acknowledgement copy.

Pan card for NRI

As a NRI you can also apply for a PAN card. But the process will be different as compared to the normal procedure. As a non citizen of Indian you need to apply in form no 49AA. If you are a qualified investor then you need to apply in the same form but through a depository participant.

How to know your pan card details

You can find the Pan Card details if you have following information;

• Date of birth
• Surname
• Middle name
• First name

Visit income tax efilling website and enter all the above details to know the pan card number.

How to know my Pan Card application status

After applying for a PAN card you will be receiving an acknowledgement. By entering the acknowledgement number or name of the concern person in combination of date of birth you can know the status of your pan card application.

Visit this link on NSDL site to know your pan card status

You can get your pan card application status by sending SMS. You need to type NDSLPAN<space>acknowledgement number and send it to 57575. You will get a return SMS with the application status.

You can write email to “tininfo[at]nsdl.co.in” or tininfo[at]nsdl.co.in for getting pan card application status.

If required you can make a call to 020-27218080 for getting your pan card application status.

How to make changes or correction in PAN details

Any changes to the PAN card details can be done through an application. You need to apply for a change request along with the details. You also need to pay for the PAN card application fee as applicable. While filling a change request form you need to tick the relevant check box on the left margin of the form.

FAQs on PAN Card

I am living in USA. Can my PAN card be sent to my country address?

At present NSDL is sending Pan Card to following countries. As your country is one of that list (serial no 99) your pan card can be dispatched to your USA address;

No.	Country
1	Argentina
2	Australia
3	Austria
4	Bahrain
5	Bangladesh
6	Barbados
7	Belarus
8	Belgium
9	Bermuda
10	Bhutan
11	Botswana
12	Brazil
13	Brunei Darussalam
14	Bulgaria
15	Cambodia
16	Canada
17	Cape Verde
18	Cayman Islands
19	China
20	Cuba
21	Cyprus
22	Denmark
23	Egypt
24	El Salvador
25	Eritrea
26	Estonia
27	Ethiopia
28	Fiji
29	Finland
30	France
31	Georgia
32	Germany
33	Ghana
34	Greece
35	Guyana
36	HongKong
37	Hungary
38	Iceland
39	Indonesia
40	Iran, Islamic Republic of
41	Iraq
42	Ireland
43	Israel
44	Italy
45	Japan
46	Jordan
47	Kenya
48	Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of
49	Korea, Republic of
50	Kuwait
51	Latvia
52	Luxembourg
53	Macao
54	Malawi
55	Malaysia
56	Maldives
57	Mauritius
58	Mexico
59	Mongolia
60	Morocco
61	Namibia
62	Nauru
63	Nepal
64	Netherlands
65	New Zealand
66	Niger
67	Nigeria
68	Norway
69	Oman
70	Pakistan
71	Panama
72	Papua New Guinea
73	Philippines
74	Poland
75	Portugal
76	Qatar
77	Romania
78	Russian Federation
79	Rwanda
80	Samoa
81	Saudi Arabia
82	Senegal
83	Singapore
84	South Africa
85	Spain
86	Sri Lanka
87	Sudan
88	Sweden
89	Switzerland
90	Taiwan, Province of China
91	Tanzania, United Republic of
92	Thailand
93	Tunisia
94	Turkey
95	Uganda
96	Ukraine
97	United Arab Emirates
98	United Kingdom
99	United States of America
100	Uruguay
101	Viet Nam
102	Yemen
103	Zair
104	Zambia
105	Zimbabwe

Also Read

• Transactions for which Permanent Account Number is to be quoted – Section 139A(5)(c)
• Application for allotment of a permanent account number
• What is a TIN Facilitation Center? What it does?
• Applying for a Permanent Account Number without address and identity Proof
• How to make changes to the existing permanent account number details