India PAN Validator
ValidatorValidate the structure of an Indian PAN (Permanent Account Number) instantly and decode the holder type. There is no public checksum for the final letter, so this checks format and holder type only. Free, runs in your browser.
Validating a GSTIN that embeds this PAN?
GSTIN numbers embed a PAN in the middle 10 characters. To validate a full Indian GST number, use our GSTIN Validator →
About this tool
About India PAN Validator
PAN (Permanent Account Number) is India's 10-character income-tax identifier: AAAAA9999A. Unlike most IDs on this site, the final check letter's algorithm has never been published by the Income Tax Department — python-stdnum's own documentation describes it as 'an undocumented checksum algorithm.' This is therefore a structure validator, the same honest approach this site takes for SWIFT/BIC codes.
The validator checks the 5-letter/4-digit/1-letter shape, decodes the 4th character into its holder type (individual, company, HUF, firm, trust, and more), and surfaces the 5th character as the informational name-initial field. It does not — and cannot — claim to verify the final check letter.
Use this to sanity-check a PAN collected on a form before it's sent to a downstream KYC or tax-filing system, to understand what a PAN's holder-type letter means, or to debug why a PAN field in your own code is rejecting a structurally valid number.
Instant, fully client-side structure checking with no data sent anywhere, and an honest 'no public checksum' disclosure instead of pretending to verify something nobody outside the Income Tax Department can.
Key Features
- Validates the AAAAA9999A structure
- Decodes the holder-type letter (individual, company, HUF, firm, trust, AOP, BOI, local authority, juridical person, government)
- Clearly discloses that the final check letter has no public algorithm
- 100% browser-based, no data sent
FAQ
India PAN Validator — Frequently Asked Questions
Why can't this tool verify the last letter of my PAN?
The Income Tax Department has never published the algorithm used to compute PAN's final check letter. Every independent PAN validator — including the widely used open-source python-stdnum library, which describes it in its own documentation as 'an undocumented checksum algorithm' — faces the same limitation. This tool is honest about that rather than pretending to verify something it cannot.
What does the 4th character of a PAN mean?
It's the holder-type code: P for an individual, C for a company, H for a Hindu Undivided Family, F for a firm or LLP, A for an Association of Persons, T for a trust, B for a Body of Individuals, L for a local authority, J for an artificial juridical person, and G for a government agency.
What does the 5th character mean?
It's meant to be the first letter of the PAN holder's surname (for an individual) or name (for other entity types). There's no independent way to check this matches a real name, so it's shown for information only.
Can this tool confirm a PAN is actually registered to someone?
No. This is a structure and holder-type check only. Confirming a PAN is genuinely registered and active requires India's official Income Tax e-filing portal, which this 100% client-side tool cannot query.
Tips
- Spaces and hyphens are stripped automatically before validation
- The 4th letter tells you the holder type — check it if the type looks wrong for the context
- This tool cannot confirm the final check letter — no validator can, since it isn't publicly documented
- Validating a GSTIN? It embeds a PAN in characters 3-12 — use the GSTIN Validator instead
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