Ever wondered what does the number printed on your PAN (Permanent Account Number) says? Many of us don't know how to decode the pattern of 10-digit alphanumeric number. It's a code which contains some important information about the PAN holder.

To understand what does this code mean, we'll take this PAN number ''XXX PS 9999 A'' and break it into 5 parts.

  1. "XXX": These first 3 letters are chosen randomly between AAA to ZZZ.
  2. "P": The fourth character represents the status of an individual. For example -
  • "P" for Person
  • "H” for Hindu Undivided Family (HUF)
  • ''C'' for Company
  • ''T'' for Trusts
  • "G" stands for Government Agency

3. "S'': It represents the first character of your last name (in case of an individual). For example, "S" could be for Singh.

In case of non-individual, the fifth character represents the first letter of your first name.

4. "9999": The next 4 letters of your PAN are sequential numbers running from 0001 to 9999.

5. "A": The last character of your PAN is always alphabetic based on the formula which takes into account the first nine characters.

We hope that you got your PAN number now.