What does your PAN say?

by Simran

Ever wondered what does the number printed on your PAN (Permanent Account Number) says? Many of us don't know how to decode the pattern of 10-digit alphanumeric number. It's a code which contains some important information about the PAN holder.

To understand what does this code mean, we'll take this PAN number ''XXX PS 9999 A'' and break it into 5 parts.

  1. "XXX": These first 3 letters are chosen randomly between AAA to ZZZ.
  2. "P": The fourth character represents the status of an individual. For example -
  • "P" for Person
  • "H” for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF)
  • ''C'' for Company
  • ''T'' for Trusts
  • "G" stands for Government Agency

3. "S'': It represents the first character of your last name (in case of an individual). For example, "S" could be for Singh.

In case of non-individual, the fifth character represents the first letter of your first name.

4. "9999": The next 4 letters of your PAN are sequential numbers running from 0001 to 9999.

5. "A": The last character of your PAN is always alphabetic based on the formula which takes into account the first nine characters.

We hope that you got your PAN number now.