PAN Number Validator
Finance & Indian IDsCheck if an Indian PAN number matches the official 10-character format — 5 letters, 4 digits, 1 letter. Verifies structure only, not registration status.
What is a PAN?
A PAN Number Validator checks whether a 10-character string matches the official format the Indian Income Tax Department uses for Permanent Account Numbers: 5 uppercase letters, followed by 4 digits, followed by 1 uppercase letter (e.g. ABCDE1234F). PAN is one of the most widely required identifiers in Indian finance — needed for filing income tax returns, opening bank accounts, registering high-value transactions, and much more — which makes catching a typo before submission genuinely useful.
This tool checks structure only. The PAN Validator confirms a string follows the correct format; it does not (and cannot, from a browser alone) confirm the PAN is actually registered with the Income Tax Department or belongs to a real person. Only the official e-filing portal can verify that.
How to use this PAN calculator
- Type or paste the PAN number into the PAN Number field — letters are automatically treated as uppercase.
- Watch the Valid/Invalid badge update instantly as you type.
- Read the message for a plain-English explanation of the result.
- If valid, check the details breakdown to see what holder type the 4th character indicates.
- If invalid, compare the flagged issue against your physical PAN card to spot the specific typo.
Formula & Methodology
A PAN is validated against the pattern/^[A-Z]{5}[0-9]{4}[A-Z]$/— exactly 5 uppercase letters, followed by exactly 4 digits, followed by exactly 1 uppercase letter, with no other characters permitted. The 4th character of the first 5 letters carries semantic meaning per Income Tax Department conventions: | Code | Holder Type | |---|---| |P| Individual | |C| Company | |H| Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) | |A| Association of Persons (AOP) | |B| Body of Individuals (BOI) | |G| Government | |F| Firm | |T| Trust | |L| Local Authority | |J| Artificial Juridical Person | Valid example:ABCDE1234F— 5 letters, 4 digits, 1 letter, matching the pattern exactly. Invalid example:ABCD1234F— only 4 letters before the digits (9 characters total instead of 10), so the pattern fails to match.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a PAN number?
A PAN (Permanent Account Number) is a 10-character alphanumeric identifier issued by the Indian Income Tax Department to individuals, companies, and other entities for tax-related purposes. It follows a fixed format — 5 letters, 4 digits, and 1 final letter — and is required for filing income tax returns, opening bank accounts, and many other financial transactions in India.
What format does a PAN follow?
A valid PAN is exactly 10 characters: the first 5 are uppercase letters, the next 4 are digits, and the final character is an uppercase letter — for example, ABCDE1234F. Every PAN issued by the Income Tax Department follows this exact structure.
What do the characters in a PAN mean?
The first 3 letters are a sequential alphabetic series with no special meaning, the 4th letter identifies the type of PAN holder (P for an individual, C for a company, H for a Hindu Undivided Family, and so on), the 5th letter is the first letter of the holder's surname or entity name, the next 4 digits are sequential, and the final letter is a checksum-style check digit.
How do I check if my PAN is valid?
Type your PAN into the input field and the result updates instantly, showing whether it matches the official 10-character format along with a breakdown of what the 4th character indicates about the holder type.
Does this confirm my PAN is real or registered with the Income Tax Department?
No. This tool checks structural format only — that your PAN has the correct length and character pattern. It does not connect to any government database, so it cannot confirm the PAN is actually registered, active, or belongs to a specific person; only the official Income Tax e-filing portal can verify that.
Is my PAN number stored anywhere when I use this tool?
No. Validation happens entirely inside your browser using a regular expression — your PAN is never sent to a server, logged, or stored anywhere, which matters given how sensitive this identifier is.
What should I do if my PAN shows as invalid?
Double-check you've typed all 10 characters correctly, in the right order — letters where letters belong and digits where digits belong. If the format genuinely doesn't match after checking your PAN card carefully, contact the Income Tax Department or your PAN issuing authority to confirm the correct number.
Who issues a PAN in India?
PAN is issued by the Income Tax Department of India, through authorised agencies like NSDL (Protean) and UTIITSL, to anyone required to pay taxes, file returns, or carry out specified high-value financial transactions in India.
Where do I find my PAN number?
Your PAN is printed on your physical PAN card, and is also visible on your income tax e-filing portal profile, Form 16 from your employer, and many bank KYC documents that require PAN as proof of tax identification.
Is a PAN the same as an Aadhaar number?
No — PAN is a 10-character alphanumeric tax identifier, while Aadhaar is a 12-digit biometric identity number issued by UIDAI for residency and identity verification. They serve different purposes, though many financial processes in India now require both to be linked together.
Can two people have the same PAN?
No — PAN is designed to be unique to each holder, and Indian tax law specifically prohibits a person or entity from holding more than one PAN. Format validation alone can't detect duplicate PANs, since checking uniqueness requires querying the Income Tax Department's records directly.