PAN Format Validator

An Indian Permanent Account Number (PAN) is a fixed 10-character alphanumeric ID in the pattern AAAAA9999A. The first three characters are letters (A–Z) assigned as a series by the Income Tax Department; the 4th character encodes the entity type (P for individual, C for company, H for HUF, F for firm/LLP, A for AOP, T for trust, B for BOI, L for local authority, J for artificial juridical person, G for government); the 5th character is the first letter of the holder’s surname (or entity name); characters 6–9 are a sequential 4-digit number; and the 10th character is an alphabetic checksum. Anything that doesn’t match the regex /^[A-Z]{5}\d{4}[A-Z]$/ is not a valid PAN format.

The 4th character is the entity-type code. P = Person (individual), C = Company, H = Hindu Undivided Family, F = Firm or LLP, A = Association of Persons, T = Trust, B = Body of Individuals, L = Local Authority, J = Artificial Juridical Person, and G = Government. So a PAN starting AAAPB or AAACA is an individual or a company respectively. Anything other than these ten letters in position 4 is a strong signal that the PAN was mistyped or is fake.

Because the official Income Tax Department does not publish the checksum algorithm used for the 10th character, and the only way to confirm a PAN truly exists is to call a government API — which requires authentication and would mean transmitting the PAN to a third party. We deliberately don’t do that. This tool checks format only (structure + entity-type code). To confirm whether a specific PAN is registered, use the Income Tax Department’s official e-Verify PAN service on incometax.gov.in, or ask the holder for a copy of their PAN card or e-PAN PDF.

No. The validator runs entirely client-side in your browser using JavaScript regex — there is no network request, no cookie, no analytics on your input, and no server log. Refresh the page and the input is gone. We built it this way precisely because PAN is a sensitive identifier; the safest place for it to live is your own device.

No. Holding more than one PAN is illegal under Section 272B of the Income Tax Act 1961 and attracts a penalty of ₹10,000 per offence. If you discover a duplicate PAN issued in your name (often happens after a name change, marriage, or accidental re-application), surrender the extra one immediately by submitting Form 49A with the “Changes/Correction” option, or by raising a request on the NSDL/Protean or UTIITSL portal. The TAN (Tax Deduction Account Number) is separate and businesses do legitimately hold one TAN per branch.

You don’t need a new PAN — only a reprint or e-PAN. Visit the NSDL (Protean) or UTIITSL website, choose “Reprint of PAN card” or “Download e-PAN”, enter your existing PAN number plus Aadhaar, pay a small fee (₹50 for a physical reprint within India, ₹959 for international delivery, free for an instant Aadhaar-based e-PAN PDF if your details match), and the card or PDF arrives in 7–15 working days. Your PAN number itself stays the same for life — losing the card does not invalidate it.