Permanent Account Number

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Permanent Account Number (PAN) is the 10-character alphanumeric identifier issued by the Indian Income Tax Department under Section 139A of the Income Tax Act, 1961 , serving as the principal taxpayer identifier in India and as the operational gateway for virtually every regulated financial transaction. The PAN is statutorily mandatory for filing income tax returns, for receiving taxable salary or business income, for substantial financial transactions including purchase or sale of immovable property, securities, mutual fund units, and high-value bank transactions, and for opening demat and trading accounts. Since 2017, the PAN must be linked to the holder’s Aadhaar number under Section 139AA, with unlinked PANs becoming inoperative for tax-filing and most financial-transaction purposes.

Identification on WebNotes

Permanent Account Number