Permanent Account Number (PAN) is a ten-digit alphanumeric number, for eg. AAAAA0000A, issued in the form of a laminated card, by the Indian Income Tax Department, to any “person” who applies for it or to whom the department allows the number without an application.
PAN enables the department to link all transactions of the “person” with the department. These transactions include tax payments, TDS/TCS credits, returns of income/wealth/gift, specified transactions, correspondence, and so on. PAN, thus, acts as an identifier for the “person” with the tax department