PAN Registration in Nepal 2026: Who Needs It, Documents Required, and How to Apply

Last reviewed: 29 September 2026

By [Author name], tax and public-finance writer. Reviewed by [Reviewer name], chartered accountant.

If you earn income in Nepal, or run anything from a single-person shop to a private company, the tax office eventually wants to know who you are. PAN registration is how that gets recorded. It attaches a unique taxpayer number to your name, and almost everything else in the tax system, from annual returns to VAT, is built on top of it.

What the PAN actually is

PAN stands for Permanent Account Number. The document the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) issues is a PAN certificate. Most people say "PAN card" and that is understood everywhere, but forms and revenue offices use the official word, so use it too when you fill anything in.

It helps to see the PAN for what it is: an identity number for tax. It is not a licence, and it is not proof that you have paid tax or that your business is compliant with anything. It just tells IRD who the file belongs to.

Who needs PAN registration in Nepal

The obligation is structural, not casual. In broad terms it covers:

Individuals with taxable income in Nepal, including salaried staff, freelancers and people earning from rent or investments; sole proprietorships and firms; registered companies; partnerships; NGOs, INGOs and cooperatives operating here; businesses whose turnover brings them inside VAT; landlords and others receiving rent that is subject to tax; and anyone required to file an income tax return.

The registration duty and its deadline come from the Income Tax Act, 2058 (2002), with the procedural detail set out in the Income Tax Rules. Read the wording itself on lawcommission.gov.np or an IRD-published copy before you rely on a summary. The exact trigger and the exact deadline are what matter, and paraphrases drift.

Documents required for PAN registration in Nepal

What you bring depends on whether you are registering as an individual or as an entity. Typical individual applications rest on a citizenship certificate or passport, a photograph, and proof of the address or business premises. For a firm or company, expect the registration certificate, the entity's details, and the identity documents of the people behind it. Partners and directors are usually asked for their own PAN details where they already have one.

Carry originals for verification and photocopies for the file, and make sure names match character for character across every document. If a name on your citizenship differs even slightly from the name on a company registration, that is where applications stall. IRD publishes its own checklist; confirm the current list on ird.gov.np on the day you go, since requirements have tightened over time.

How to apply: IRD office or online

In person: visit the Inland Revenue Office that covers your district, take a token at the taxpayer service desk, and submit the form with your documents. For a straightforward individual application this is often done the same day, though queues vary by office and by month.

Online: IRD runs a taxpayer portal, and the Nagarik App lists tax-related services among its government services. Nagarik app PAN registration has become a common search, but the app's offering has expanded in stages, and not every taxpayer category can complete the whole process there. Check the app's own service list and IRD's portal for what is currently live, and note the date you checked. Where online registration is available it usually still ends with a visit or a verification step, so do not plan around finishing everything from your phone.

PAN vs VAT in Nepal

These are two different registrations and people mix them up constantly. The PAN is the base identifier for a taxpayer. VAT registration is a separate obligation that arises once turnover crosses the threshold set by the Finance Act in force for the fiscal year, currently 2083/84. A PAN is normally a precondition for VAT registration, but holding a PAN does not make a business VAT compliant, and you cannot register for VAT without a PAN in the first place.

Foreigners, non-residents and foreign companies

What brings you into the net is Nepal-source income, not your passport or the visa sticker in it. Non-resident individuals with Nepal-source income, foreign nationals employed by Nepali entities, foreign investors, and representatives of foreign companies operating here can all fall within the registration rules. Do not assume that a particular visa category automatically requires a PAN, or automatically rules one out. Ask the Inland Revenue Office handling your district, or follow IRD's published guidance, for the route a foreign applicant should use.

Fees, penalties and deadlines

This is the part of any tax article that ages fastest. Fees, thresholds and late-registration penalties are set by the Finance Act for each fiscal year, so a figure quoted in a blog post from two years ago may simply be wrong now. Rather than repeat a number, check IRD's current notices and the Act in force for FY 2083/84. A figure without a date attached to it is not usable, whichever website it came from.

India comparison — position as reported on the dates shown; not asserted as current in September 2026

India's system is frequently confused with Nepal's because the abbreviation is identical. Indian reporting through 2026 has covered the pan-India roll-out of PAN 2.0 with a QR-coded PAN, changes to the documents accepted for a PAN application, and a revised application fee. Those reports carry their own dates and, for some items, rest on secondary coverage rather than the department's own notification. Anyone dealing with Indian PAN should check the Income Tax Department's own published material rather than carry a date from an article. Nothing in this box applies to Nepal.

Before you go

Download forms only from ird.gov.np, and treat the Nagarik App's own listing as the source for what that app does. No agent can guarantee approval, and paying a middleman does not move an application faster than a complete file does. Keep the certificate somewhere you can find it, and if your name or address changes later, ask IRD about the amendment route rather than registering again.