What is the full form of TAN:

TAN represents Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number.

TAN is a 10 digit alpha numeric number. When a person pays the tax, the amount is sent to the Income Tax Department. The department verifies the amount sent by the person, and then checks whether the amount paid is correct or not. If the person has paid an extra tax, then that extra amount is credited back into the tax payers account. This account number from which the tax was first debited or deducted and then the extra amount was credited is called as the Tax Deduction and Collection Account Number.

The person, who needs to apply for TAN, needs to fill up the Form no. 49B. It needs to be submitted at the Tax information network facilitation centre or at the website of NSDL. An identity proof and the address proof needs to be submitted with the TAN application form. If the form is filled online, then these documents need to be sent through post to the TAN application division. Once the NSDL department receives the TAN application form with the required documents, the details are verified and the application is then sent to the income tax department. When the department approves the application, a unique number is sent to the NSDL department, which then informs about this number to the applicant. This unique number is called as TAN. The 10 digit TAN number consists of first four alphabets, then five digits are numbers and then the last character is again a letter, example: BPLA11111S.