What a PAN is
A Permanent Account Number is the taxpayer ID issued by the Inland Revenue Department. Every business needs one to invoice, and every salaried employee needs one for their employer to deduct TDS correctly. The same PAN is used for income tax, VAT and excise.
Personal PAN vs business PAN
- Personal PAN: for individuals: employees, freelancers, landlords.
- Business PAN: for proprietorships, partnerships and companies. A proprietorship's business PAN is linked to the owner's personal PAN.
Documents
For an individual: citizenship certificate (or passport for foreigners), a passport-size photo, and contact details. For a business: OCR registration certificate (companies) or ward registration (proprietorships), MoA/AoA, directors' citizenship and photos, office lease agreement, and a location map.
Registering online
- Go to the IRD Taxpayer Portal and choose Registration for PAN / VAT / Excise.
- Fill in the application and upload documents.
- Note the submission number and visit the relevant Inland Revenue Office (IRO) or Taxpayer Service Office for verification and biometric capture.
- Collect your PAN certificate, usually same-day.
Many banks and employers now accept the digital certificate.
What you will use the portal for
- Filing VAT returns and e-TDS
- Filing the estimated return (Poush) and annual return (Ashwin)
- Viewing your ledger, assessments and outstanding dues
- Generating withholding certificates and tax clearance certificates
- Responding to notices
Keeping the profile current
Update the portal when you change address, add a branch, or change directors. Mismatches between the portal, OCR and bank records are the most common cause of delays in tax clearance.
This guide is general information for Nepal taxpayers, not advice for your specific situation. Rates and thresholds change with each Finance Act; confirm current figures with the IRD or with us before acting.
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