Distinguish the employer registration from the taxpayer’s enrolment
Article 276 of the Constitution and Entry 60 of the State List provide the framework for state or local taxes on professions, trades, callings and employments. The constitutional limit is ₹2,500 a year payable by one person to the State or to any one of the local authorities specified in Article 276(2). The limit does not prescribe a flat annual charge or a single nationwide payroll rule.
In Maharashtra, PTRC identifies the employer registration and PTEC identifies enrolment for a person’s own liability. Other jurisdictions use their own forms and terminology. Determine the employer’s payroll liability, the entity’s own enrolment and each officer’s or partner’s liability separately. Look at the charging provision, schedule, commencement and exemptions. The issue of an incorporation-linked number does not prove liability for every period or eliminate filings. Use the applicable rules for inactive certificates, nil returns or cancellation.
Payroll rates and calendar checkpoints
The table shows selected salary schedules. Apply the statutory pay definition and any transition or special employee rules. Do not infer the employer’s filing frequency or entity’s annual enrolment amount from the employee rate.
| Jurisdiction | Salary or wage schedule | Calendar and enrolment checks |
|---|---|---|
| Maharashtra | Men: up to ₹7,500 nil; above ₹7,500 through ₹10,000, ₹175 monthly; above ₹10,000, ₹200 monthly except ₹300 in February. Women: through ₹25,000 nil; above ₹25,000, ₹200 monthly except ₹300 in February. | Rule 11 generally uses the preceding year’s ₹1 lakh threshold, with a separate first-year rule. The 28 February 2026 notification changed the annual deadline to 15 March and the applicable monthly deadline to the 15th of the return month. Read the return-period mechanics and any relief. The annual enrolment payment has its own statutory date. |
| Karnataka | Below ₹25,000 monthly nil; from ₹25,000, ₹200 monthly except ₹300 in February with effect from 1 April 2025. Full-year total in that band is ₹2,500. | Check the monthly statement and payment generally within 20 days of month-end, applicable annual return and separate enrolment obligations, including the ordinary April payment for those enrolled before the year. Check official extensions and how registrations cover multiple locations. |
| West Bengal | From 1 October 2026: up to ₹20,000 nil; above ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 ₹100; above ₹30,000 to ₹50,000 ₹140; above ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh ₹170; above ₹1 lakh ₹208 monthly. The previous schedule had nil through ₹10,000, then ₹110, ₹130, ₹150 and ₹200, with breakpoints of ₹15,000, ₹25,000 and ₹40,000. | Use the applicable payment calendar and annual Form III under the amended rules; separately check enrolment, ordinarily 31 July for an existing enrollee under section 8(2). Apply the separate commencement provisions in Notification 1607-F.T. to non-payroll entries. |
| Telangana | Up to ₹15,000 nil; above ₹15,000 through ₹20,000 ₹150; above ₹20,000 ₹200 monthly. | The state portal describes the monthly Form V and the 10th of the succeeding month for payment. Check separate enrolment according to the profession or trade. |
| Andhra Pradesh | The state Act’s First Schedule shows nil through ₹15,000, ₹150 above ₹15,000 through ₹20,000, and ₹200 above ₹20,000 monthly. | Use the Andhra Pradesh rules and portal separately; the Telangana portal does not establish Andhra Pradesh deadlines. |
| Greater Chennai Corporation, Tamil Nadu | From the second half of FY 2024–25: up to ₹21,000 nil; the next bands through ₹30,000, ₹45,000, ₹60,000 and ₹75,000 bear ₹180, ₹425, ₹930 and ₹1,025. The top band is ₹1,250. | Half-year periods are April–September and October–March; check Rule 278’s payment timing and current GCC instructions. Other local bodies may have different rates. |
| Gujarat | Under the schedule where the State Government is the designated authority, monthly wages up to ₹12,000 are nil and above ₹12,000 are ₹200. | The Act provides a 15-day payment rule for the relevant employer category. Check the authority and applicable schedule and payment cycle for the actual establishment. |
| Madhya Pradesh | Under the 2018 schedule: annual wages up to ₹2.25 lakh nil; over ₹2.25 lakh to ₹3 lakh ₹1,500 (₹125 monthly); over ₹3 lakh to ₹4 lakh ₹2,000 (₹166 for 11 months plus ₹174); over ₹4 lakh ₹2,500 (₹208 for 11 months plus ₹212). | Use annual salary bands and the prescribed monthly deduction cycle. Confirm the filing calendar and avoid assigning the twelfth-month adjustment to a month without checking the applicable rules. |
Do not copy a statewide list of “no-tax” locations into a nationwide payroll configuration. Check each state or municipality and each assignment. State exemptions for disability, certain defence personnel, age or other categories have their own definitions and supporting documents; a certificate or status accepted in one state may not qualify in another. Punjab’s development tax should be evaluated under its own law.
Work location, income-tax deductions and records
Record the employee’s actual work locations, attachment to establishments, job terms, duration and employer presence. Apply each jurisdiction’s territorial provisions. A remote employee’s HR base, a payroll server or a shops registration does not by itself decide liability. If the facts support possible registration but the online form rejects the address, obtain the authority’s procedural guidance rather than assuming there is no tax.
For years under the 1961 Income-tax Act, section 16(iii) allows eligible employment tax actually paid as a salary deduction where the chosen regime permits it; legacy section 115BAC excludes that deduction. For the employer’s own tax or employer-borne amounts, determine the proper expense and perquisite treatment and whether the statutory payment rule applies. An employee deduction held for remittance is not automatically the company’s own deductible expense. Check legacy section 43B and the correct tax audit reporting or the corresponding rules for the current year.
Six worked examples
1. Maharashtra payroll with the February adjustment
Assume the same 40 staff are paid each month of FY 2024–25 and all are subject to the published schedule.
| Pay band | Employees and computation | Ordinary month | February |
|---|---|---|---|
| ₹9,000 | 10 men × ₹175; 10 women nil | ₹1,750 | ₹1,750 |
| ₹22,000 | 5 men × ₹200 or ₹300; 10 women nil | ₹1,000 | ₹1,500 |
| ₹65,000 | 5 people × ₹200 or ₹300 | ₹1,000 | ₹1,500 |
| Total | 11 × ₹3,750 plus ₹4,750 = ₹46,000 | ₹3,750 | ₹4,750 |
A ₹46,000 liability does not by itself determine the same year’s filing frequency. Check the prior year, any first-year rule and the periodicity assigned for the relevant year. Do not apply the February 2026 change to this historical example.
2. Haryana payroll with staff in Mumbai and Bengaluru
A Gurugram-headquartered business has 30 employees there, 8 in Mumbai and 12 in Bengaluru, or 50 in total. Test the employer’s presence and employment facts in Maharashtra and Karnataka. For a post-April 2025 full year, if all eight Mumbai employees and all twelve Bengaluru employees are in their respective top salary bands and covered throughout, the illustrative payroll tax is ₹20,000 and ₹30,000 respectively. Those figures are conditional; neither an HR base in Haryana nor a new virtual office establishes the outcome.
3. A dormant Maharashtra company receives a notice
A Pune company incorporated on 10 April 2021 reports no employees or revenue for FY 2021–22 through FY 2024–25 and receives a notice in October 2025. Schedule I entry 18 concerns a company engaged in a profession, trade or calling. Test what it actually did, whether the entry applied for each year, and the dates on the certificates and notice. Four liable years at ₹2,500 would be ₹10,000 for the company. For two individually covered directors, the same four-year assumption would give ₹20,000 across both. Neither figure establishes that the notice is correct. Four fees of ₹1,000 would arithmetically total ₹4,000, but do not assume that fee, return obligation or interest rate applies to inactive payroll periods. Check each statutory trigger and seek the applicable closure or correction procedure.
4. Karnataka head office and six retail branches
A business has a Bengaluru head office, six retail branches and 180 staff. Check each location under the schedule, including the additional-place rule and its exception for premises exclusively used to store goods. If all seven sites are separately liable at ₹2,500, annual enrolment tax is ₹17,500. The employee registration and filing arrangements are separate; verify whether the department allows the specific configuration rather than assuming a single registration covers all sites.
5. Chennai mid-year joiner
A Chennai employee starts on 1 July 2024 at ₹80,000 a month. July through September is three months, or ₹2.40 lakh in the first half of FY 2024–25. Assuming coverage for those 92 calendar days, no previous payment requiring adjustment and no exemption, that is in the ₹1,250 top band under the first-half schedule. Verify the local rule on prior payments, period of employment and deadline; the later revision increased some lower bands without changing the top amount.
6. West Bengal remuneration above basic pay
Monthly amounts are ₹8,500 basic, ₹3,000 housing allowance, ₹1,500 conveyance allowance, ₹1,000 bonus and ₹1,200 medical reimbursement, or ₹15,200 paid. Assuming the first four items are covered remuneration and the last is a substantiated reimbursement outside taxable pay on these facts, the slab base is ₹14,000. Under the earlier schedule, the deduction is ₹110. From 1 October 2026 the same amount is below the new ₹20,000 threshold and attracts nil. Check whether a reimbursement is itself a perquisite or otherwise in the statutory base; the label alone does not determine the answer.
Frequently asked questions
1. How should a new employer account for ₹1,400 already paid in the same jurisdiction?
A further ₹1,600 would total ₹3,000. If the same applicable ceiling and statutory procedure govern, the unused headroom is ₹1,100. Obtain the prescribed evidence and apply the local procedure rather than transferring a cap automatically across authorities.
2. Do stipends or consulting fees attract employer deduction?
Apply the local employment and pay definitions. A genuine independent professional may instead have an enrolment obligation; a withholding-tax label or trainee title does not decide employment status.
3. What if unpaid leave reduces a Karnataka employee’s actual monthly wages to ₹10,000?
If ₹10,000 is the statutory salary or wage for that month and no other rule alters the base, it is below ₹25,000, even if normal contract pay is ₹30,000.
4. Does a Maharashtra director on five boards pay ₹12,500 personally?
Five charges of ₹2,500 would total ₹12,500, but the same person’s levy by the same authority is subject to Article 276(2). Apply the state rules on multiple entries, declarations and proof of payment.
5. Must every LLP partner enrol?
Check the specific entry for the LLP and for its partners, including activity and exemptions. Entity and individual liability are separate questions.
6. Can old defaults be settled under an amnesty?
Check for an operative notification covering the law, taxpayer and years. Past waivers do not create a current entitlement.
Sources
- Constitution of India, Article 276 and Seventh Schedule
- Maharashtra Profession Tax Act and schedule
- Maharashtra Profession Tax Rules, Rule 11
- Maharashtra Gazette, 28 February 2026: revised Rule 11 deadlines
- Karnataka Profession Tax Act, schedule and 2025 amendment
- West Bengal Profession Tax Act
- West Bengal historical schedule
- Kolkata Gazette, 16 September 2026: Notification 1607-F.T.
- West Bengal Gazette Notification 663-F.T. on returns and payments
- Telangana Profession Tax schedule
- Telangana Profession Tax payment guidance
- Andhra Pradesh Profession Tax Act and First Schedule
- Greater Chennai Corporation profession tax rates
- Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, 2023, Rules 277–278
- Gujarat schedule where State Government is designated authority
- Gujarat Profession Tax Act
- Madhya Pradesh Gazette, Act 20 of 2018, schedule