ITR-V password: how to open the acknowledgement PDF

After you file your income tax return, the ITR-V acknowledgement you download from the e-filing portal is a locked PDF. The password is a single, predictable format.

The ITR-V password format

It is your PAN in lower case, immediately followed by your date of birth as DDMMYYYY, with no space.

• PAN BLOFS0000A, born 19 January 1995 → blofs0000a19011995

Note the PAN letters are lowercase here (unlike many other tax documents), and the date is eight digits — day, month, full year.

If it is rejected

Two usual reasons: the PAN case is wrong (it must be lowercase for ITR-V), or the date of birth does not match what the Income Tax Department has on record for that PAN — for a company or firm, use the date of incorporation or formation registered against the PAN.

Removing the password

Once filed, retyping this on every open is pointless friction, and you often need to attach the acknowledgement to a loan or visa file.

1. Open Unlock PDF and add the ITR-V.
2. Enter your PAN in lowercase + date of birth as DDMMYYYY.
3. Download the unlocked copy — it opens directly and keeps its real, selectable text.

This happens in your browser; your acknowledgement and PAN are never uploaded. For a tax document carrying your PAN and income, that is the only sensible way to do it. (Why uploading it is the risk.) The related Form 16 password uses your PAN differently, and e-Aadhaar uses name plus birth year.

Removing the password from your own return is fine.