How to find Income Tax Assessing Officer (AO) details?

author portrait

Maharshi Shah

AO Details
Assessing Officer
Income Tax Website
Last updated on June 23rd, 2021

A taxpayer is assigned a jurisdictional Assessing Officer (AO) based on the address mentioned on the taxpayers’ PAN. Therefore, any communication between the Income Tax Department (ITD) and the taxpayer takes place through the jurisdictional Assessing Officer (AO). Hence, it is important to find Assessing Officer (AO) details while making PAN Application.

Currently, the AO can re-open the assessment upto 6 years which has now been reduced to 3 years as announced by the Finance Minister in the budget 2021 to reduce the uncertainty for taxpayers
Tip
Currently, the AO can re-open the assessment upto 6 years which has now been reduced to 3 years as announced by the Finance Minister in the budget 2021 to reduce the uncertainty for taxpayers

Furthermore, taxpayers may also write to the income tax department for any of their concerns such as rectification of return, issue of refund, etc. AO is a representative on behalf of the Income Tax Department and all direct tax-related matters are handled by him.

Steps to Find Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (AO) Details

  1. Visit the tax e-filing Portal to find the details of your jurisdictional AO.

    Visit the tax e-filing portal and scroll down and click on the “Know Your AO” option.www.incometax.gov.in - Know Your AO Option

  2. Know your jurisdictional assessing officer

    On the Know Your Jurisdictional Assessing Officer page, enter your PAN and a valid mobile number and click Continue.
    www.incometax.gov.in - Know Your Jurisdictional Assessing Officer

  3. OTP Verification

    You will receive a 6-digit OTP on the mobile number you entered in Step 2. On the Verification page, enter the OTP and click Validate.
    www.incometax.gov.in - AO OTP Verification

On successful OTP validation, you will see the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer Details (such as Area Code, AO Type, Range Code, AO Number, Jurisdiction, Address and email ID of the AO), along with status of your PAN. 

FAQs

When do I need to contact my AO?

If you don’t have any issues with your filing, you don’t need to contact your AO. As a general rule, the ITD endeavours to provide all taxpayer services in a faceless manner, online. However, in certain exceptional situations, the ITD may request you to approach your jurisdictional AO.

What are the powers of the Assessing Officer?

Some of the powers of the Assessing Officer (AO) are as follows:
Discovery and inspection
Enforcing the attendance of any person, including any officer of a banking company and examining him on oath
Compiling the production of books of accounts and other documents
Issuing commissions

How to change AO?

An AO is assigned by the Income Tax Department for each Ward and Zone in India. A taxpayer can not change the AO. However, if a taxpayer moves from one city to another they can apply for a change in PAN details and change the AO.

 How will I come to know that my PAN has been migrated to the new AO?

The current status of the jurisdictional AO for your PAN can be verified on the e-Filing portal > Know Your AO. You do not need to register or log in to use this service.

Got Questions? Ask Away!

  1. How do I know the AO code and AO type for a PAN card application? Can I choose anyone listed for my state?

  2. What are the steps to download a PAN card PDF?

  3. I recently misplaced my PAN card and I want a new one with the old PAN number. How should I proceed?

  4. How can I get my pan card acknowledgement number?

  5. How can I check my PAN card details online?

  6. Hey @SonalYadav,

    No - you cannot randomly select your AO code and type just based on the state. In TIN-NSDL PAN application you need to select AO based on the description provided on the AO in the Help utility for AO selection after you select State and City, as shown in the image below -

    So once you select State and City - you’ll see a list of AO’s with different descriptions. Most common one - if you’re salaried with income below 20 lacs as seen in this example it will be WARD 7(1)(4) in Ahmedabad, as we chose Ahmedabad as the city for this example.

    Similarly AOs will be different for Government sector employees, business owners, etc. Once you select that AO, AO type and code will automatically be filled in the respective fields of your application.

    If you’re still confused regarding your AO, you’re best suited to get professional help for the same. Choose Quicko’s PAN Application Plan and have your PAN application handled by professionals in hassle free manner.

    Hope this helped! Feel free to reach out in case of further queries. :slight_smile:

  7. Hey @SonalYadav

    To get an e-PAN or a PDF version of PAN card - you can:

    • Apply for a reprint of your PAN card (not a new PAN)

    Steps to apply for Reprint/Duplicate e-PAN via NSDL website

    • Visit NDSL portal → New PAN application page

    • Select option for Application Type → Changes or Correction in existing PAN data/ Reprint of PAN Card & Category as applicable(Eg. Individual, HUF, Firm, LLP, etc)
    • Fill out personal information in corresponding fields, go next
    • Temporary token number will be generated for your application, which you’ll use throughout the process (Note down this temporary token number) & Click Continue with PAN Application Form.

    Note: If during the application process the session times out or you wish to continue later - you can click on Registered user tab and use your token number to resume the application

    • Select mode of submission for application documents, there are three ways -
      • Digitally (through e-KYC & e-Sign, using Aadhar)
      • Scanned images through e-Sign on C-DAC or NSDL
      • Forward application documents Physically

    Among these options, e-KYC through Aadhaar is the easiest, since you don’t need to submit further documents as proof of your identity and your e-KYC is completed using Aadhaar OTP.

    • Under the mode of delivery → select e-PAN option
    • Enter Aadhaar details (Recommended, not mandatory) and complete other personal details like gender, parents name, etc.
    • Next, enter only your mobile number and go next - there’ll be options to change details. If you are applying for a reprint you won’t need to change them as you just need a reprint.
    • Complete the declaration and upload the list of documents.
      • copy of your PAN card as proof of PAN
      • Address proof,
      • identity & Date of Birth (Aadhar by default for e-KYC)
    • You’ll see a summary of the application before the final submission - review the details and confirm the submission.
    • Pay application fees - to mention a mode of payment via which you’ll complete your application (Demand Draft/Online Banking, Cards)
    • Enter the OTP sent on your Aadhaar registered mobile number to verify the details.

    It usually takes 15–20 days to receive the duplicate PAN card.

    Track your PAN application using Check PAN Card Status tool

    You also get an instant e-PAN from the Income Tax Department.

    Following is the sample of an e-PAN:

    Hope this helps!

  8. Hey @HarshitShah

    Go to Know Your PAN and enter your Name, Date of Birth and mobile number to fetch your PAN details from Income Tax database.

    Or, you can get your old PAN Number from:

    • Previously filed ITR (Income Tax Return)
    • Request your bank to provide you with your PAN number, that you linked with your bank account.

    Once you fetch your PAN number, you can apply for a reprint of your PAN on Quicko or on NSDL website - refer Team Quicko’s answer to How can I get a new duplicate copy of my pan card

    Hope that answered your question! In case you need further assistance, feel free to send us a message or mention a comment below.

  9. Hey @ViraajAhuja47

    It is very easy to get an acknowledgement number

    You can get this number Online or Offline:

    If you have applied for a new Pan Card or have applied to change any data in the existing Pan Database, the acknowledgement number can be found in Pan Acknowledgement sheet or on the Pan Acknowledgement form that has been provided to you.

    If you applied online for PAN, the acknowledgement number will be delivered to your given Email Id.

    After getting the acknowledgement number you can track you PAN status using NSDL website.

    Hope this helps!

Continue the conversation on TaxQ&A

53 more replies

Participants

Avatar for TeamQuicko Avatar for HIREiN Avatar for Nireka Avatar for Sofiyah_Valiante Avatar for Fatema_Rasiwala Avatar for Yesha Avatar for jonu_dsa Avatar for Chris Avatar for ajit Avatar for Sakshi Avatar for Sim_ran Avatar for SonalYadav Avatar for Debasish_Maitra Avatar for Joe_Fernandes Avatar for vinith.r Avatar for Ridhima_Sharma Avatar for Sakshi_Shah1 Avatar for TanyaChopra Avatar for jonjon Avatar for Maharshi_Shah Avatar for riya_gupta Avatar for akash_jhaveri Avatar for Starwar_Lastjedi Avatar for Amulya_Garg