PAN Full Form

PAN full form is the Permanent Account Number. The PAN card is issued by the Income Tax department of India (ITD) and usually has ten alphanumeric characters in it. The PAN card is also recognised as valid identification proof. The card also acts as a centralized card that consists of a lot of information regarding the person to which it belongs. If by chance, the person loses their PAN card, then the applicant can apply for a replacement.

What is PAN Full Form?

PAN full form is Permanent Account Number. Usually, the card is presented in a blue background having the personal details such as the bearer's photograph, name, father’s name, date of birth and unique PAN number. The card number is issued by the department usually as a laminated card or also in the PDF format. This unique number is allotted to only Indian citizens. As per rules, a citizen shall be allotted only a single PAN number during his/her lifetime. Retaining more than one PAN card is not allowed and comes under the punishable offense. Moreover, if a  PAN card is lost one can apply for its replacement with a valid replacement request citing the cause.The PAN card number is used by the citizen once they file their income tax return to pay tax. 

History of PAN

PAN is one of the latest and advanced technologies that is used by the Income-Tax department to maintain a record of the taxpayers in the country. However, earlier people were assigned a General Index Register (GIR) number and were accessible to only a limited ward. But this number was not unique and it is due to this reason that the same GIR number was allotted to more than one person.

Apart from the concerned person’s information and personal details, the GIR number also had the details related to the IT officer who assigned it to people. Taking note of  the high number of miscalculations that came along with allotment of the GIR numbers, the concept of PAN was introduced in the country. The Indian government rolled out the concept in the year 1972 and was made statutory under section 139A of the Income Tax Act, 1961. Until 1976, the PAN number was made mandatory for all the Indian citizens.

Eligibility for PAN

The basic and foremost eligibility for applying to receive a PAN number is that the person should be a citizen of India. Other than this, the applicant should be a taxpayer and he/ she must be either a salary-classed person or a business entity operating own business. 

What is the use of PAN Card?

The PAN card is one of the most significant documents that is used by taxpayers as it helps while filing the financial activities such as Income Tax Returns. Some of the basic usages of PAN Card includes filing of Income-tax, tax refunds, tax rebates etc. Other than this, a PAN card can also be used in any kind of identification process. People can also use the card number to open a new bank account, link the bank account or fill out the form for any government scheme.

However, according to the rule those who do not have a PAN card can also use their Aadhaar number to file for Income tax. The government also has issued a notification that people have to link their PAN number and Aadhaar card for better identification and clarity. PAN Card is also used to save from any fraud or scam as it is the unique identification number issued by the government.

Structure of PAN Card

PAN cards have a definite structure. PAN consists of ten alphanumeric characters and each character that signifies something. The first five letters are demarcated as alphabets, the next four letters are numbers and the last digit consists of a letter. The first four letters of the PAN number are based on the alpha-numeric code. These codes are assigned to them on the basis of their meaning. The meanings of the alphabets mentioned in the PAN card are below:

• A — AOP (Association of persons)
• B — BOI (Body of Individuals)
• C — Company
• F — Firm
• G — Government
• H — HUF (Hindu Undivided Family)
• L — Local authority
• J — Artificial juridical person
• P — Person (Individual)
• T — Trust (AOP)

The fifth letter of the number represents the first letter of either the name of the entity or the surname of the person. The last digit of the PAN card assures the validity of the current code.

What is the Application Process for Obtaining a PAN Card?

The application form for PAN has to be submitted only through the online mode. The applicant can fill out the application form and details either on the official website of the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) or UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited (UTIITSL). In the process of receiving a number, the applicant has to fill the Form 49A along with the required documents to be submitted with the application form. After submission, the applicant can track the delivery time and this duration mostly ranges between 2 to 4 weeks. 

The following steps can be helpful and convenient in applying for the PAN card:

• Visit and browse the official website of NSDL.
• Select  and open Form 49A and choose the category from the drop-down menu.
• Fill it with your personal details like name, date of birth, parent’s name, and mobile number, upload your current photograph and then fill in the captcha code.
• Pay the required application fee for a PAN card through the online mode using a Debit or Credit card.

The application fee for filing and applying for a PAN card is INR 83 for any Indian Citizen while for foreign nationals it will cost INR 864.

Necessary Documents Required for PAN Card

The documents are basically needed for two primary purposes- to substantiate proof of identity and proof of address validation. While filling out the application form for a PAN card, the applicant has to keep the following documents handy in the scanned format. The following are the list of essential documents required for the PAN numbers depending on the PAN form they apply for.

1. Documents required for Individuals

Required documents are

• Voter ID
• Driving license
• Adhar card
• Passport (if available)

2. Documents Required for HUF (Hindu Undivided Family)

Required documents are

• An affidavit of Hindu Undivided Family on behalf of family members, including DOB identification of the member and address proof of the members.

• Registration certificate issued by the registrar (if any).

3. Trust Certificate

• Trust deed and registered certificate number issued by the trust and charity commissioner.

4. Society Certificate Number

• Registered certificate number issued by the commissioner of the cooperative society.

5. Foreigners Identification

• Bank account statement of residing country, passport and bank statement of NRE account in India.

Potential Benefits of PAN

PAN card comes with multiple benefits and plays a major role in the day to day activities of the people. The following points consists of the benefit that it offers: 

• Convenient in opening a new bank account.
• Applying for any new business license or grant.
• Availability of any new insurance plan and paying premium payments.
• Applying for a new gas connection.
• Selling or Purchasing a new property or flat.
• Helps in the procedure to get a new Credit Card.
• Filing Income Tax or IT returns and gaining tax redemption.
• Applying for a loan grant in any bank or private institution.