PAN Card Number – What does it mean?

A PAN Card as you might already be aware is a very important identification for a working, tax-paying Indian. The PAN Card number is what helps identify your income and also helps you pay income tax. Most of us have it and also remember our PAN card number as we end up using it for identification purposes while buying railway tickets, bus tickets or opening a bank account. But there are only a handful of us who really know what this number means and what is the different information hidden in it.

Here, at eWebBuddy I always try to share posts which keeps us better informed and aware. Similar to this post, I had earlier written another one explaining what a credit card number means. So here is what a PAN card number means:

1. First three characters are alphabetic series running from AAA to ZZZ
2. Fourth Character of PAN represents the status of the PAN holder:
   • C- Comapany
   • P – Person
   • H – HUF (Hindu Undivided Family)
   • F – Firm
   • A – Association of Persons (AOP)
   • T – Trust
   • B – Body of Individuals (BOI)
   • L – Local Authority
   • J – Artificial Juridicial Person
   • G – Government
3. Fifth character represents first character of the PAN holder’s last name/surname
4. Next four characters are sequential numbers running from 0001 to 9999
5. Last character in the PAN is an alphabetic check digit