What it is
Professional tax (PT) is a tax that states levy on professions, trades, callings and employment. For salaried staff, the employer deducts it from pay and pays it to the state. The employer usually also registers and files periodic returns with the state’s tax department.
The Constitution limits it: under Article 276(2), the total one person pays to a state, or to local bodies in it, cannot exceed ₹2,500 a year.
A worked state: Maharashtra
From the Maharashtra GST Department’s Profession Tax rate schedule, Schedule I, entry 1, for salaries from 1 Apr 2023:
| Monthly salary or wages | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Up to ₹7,500 | Nil | Nil |
| ₹7,501 to ₹10,000 | ₹175 a month | Nil |
| ₹10,001 to ₹25,000 | ₹2,500 a year: ₹200 a month, ₹300 in February | Nil |
| Above ₹25,000 | ₹2,500 a year: ₹200 a month, ₹300 in February | ₹2,500 a year: ₹200 a month, ₹300 in February |
Worked example. A Pune employer has three staff.
| Employee | Monthly salary | PT a month | PT for the year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ramesh | ₹9,000 | ₹175 | ₹2,100 |
| Sunita | ₹22,000 | Nil | Nil |
| Arjun | ₹30,000 | ₹200 (₹300 in February) | ₹2,500 |
The employer deducts these amounts from pay and pays them with its Maharashtra PT return. The department publishes each employer’s return periodicity for the year; the 2026-27 list is in the What’s New section of mahagst.gov.in.
A second state: Karnataka
Karnataka Act 33 of 2025, in the Karnataka Gazette of 15 Apr 2025, set the amounts for salary and wage earners from 1 Apr 2025:
| Monthly salary or wages | PT |
|---|---|
| Below ₹25,000 | Nil |
| ₹25,000 or more | ₹2,500 a year: ₹200 a month, ₹300 in February |
The ₹25,000 threshold comes from the state’s 2023 amendment; the 2025 Act changed only the amounts. A Bengaluru employee on ₹30,000 pays ₹200 for eleven months and ₹300 in February, ₹2,500 in all. A colleague on ₹24,000 pays nothing. Check the Commercial Taxes Department’s current schedule and payment date before you deduct.
Other states
Slabs, the month with the extra amount, and return dates all differ. Some states use a yearly or half-yearly basis instead of monthly. Read the current schedule on your state’s tax department site, for example:
We list only Maharashtra’s and Karnataka’s slabs here because we read them in each state’s own published text on 1 Nov 2026. For other states, check the official source before you deduct.
A checklist for employers
- Register for PT in each state where you have staff.
- Set each employee’s PT state on their record.
- Deduct by the slab for that state, every pay run.
- Pay and file by the state’s date.
- Recheck slabs every April; states amend them in their budgets.
How MyRecords helps
- Professional tax slabs for 20 states and Puducherry, with the source shown for each. Slabs marked “verify” wait for a CA’s check, so we confirm your state’s slabs during setup. Odisha repealed the tax from April 2026.
- PT state per employee, so staff in different states get the right slab, and each person’s deduction is checked against that state’s slab.
- PT deductions by state for the month on the India statutory page, and the due dates of most states on the Home calendar.
- Labour welfare fund is totalled by state when you set it up as a salary component; state LWF rates are not built in.
- One professional tax or LWF state is included in the small size, two in medium and three in large; extra states can be added to your quote.