Professional Tax slabs by state: the complete employer table
By the True HR editorial team · Reviewed by empanelled labour law lawyers
Published · Updated · 7 min read
The short answer
Professional Tax is a state levy on salaried income, capped at ₹2,500 per person per year under Article 276 of the Constitution. Slabs differ by state: Karnataka charges ₹200 a month from a salary of ₹25,000, Maharashtra ₹200 above ₹10,000, each with ₹300 in February, while Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh levy none. Employers must register, deduct and deposit it.
What is Professional Tax and who levies it?
PT (Professional Tax) is a tax on employment and professions levied by state governments, not by the Centre. The power comes from Article 276 of the Constitution, which also caps the levy at ₹2,500 per person per year: no state can charge more, which is why every state's slab structure tops out at roughly ₹200 a month.
For salaried staff, the employer deducts PT from the monthly salary and deposits it with the state. For the company itself, and for directors or professionals not on salary, a separate flat annual amount usually applies. Not every state levies PT: Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and several other northern states have no PT at all, while Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala are the major PT states.
The tax follows the employee's place of work. Your registered office's state is irrelevant for an employee who works from another state, which is what makes PT the fiddliest small line on a multi-state payroll.
What are the Professional Tax slabs in each state?
The table below shows the salary at which each state's top slab applies and the top-slab monthly deduction, from the same rate table that powers our calculators. Several states have lower slabs; the note column carries them. West Bengal replaced its whole schedule on 1 October 2026.
| State | Top slab applies at | Top slab per month | Notes and lower slabs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Karnataka | ₹25,000 and above | ₹200 (₹300 in February) | ₹200 a month at ₹25,000 and above, ₹300 in February (₹2,500 a year). Nil below ₹25,000. Karnataka Act 33 of 2025, effective 1 April 2025. |
| Maharashtra | Above ₹10,000 | ₹200 (₹300 in February) | ₹175 for ₹7,501 to ₹10,000; ₹200 above ₹10,000 with ₹300 in February. Women earning up to ₹25,000 a month are exempt. |
| Telangana | Above ₹20,000 | ₹200 | ₹150 for ₹15,001 to ₹20,000; ₹200 above ₹20,000. Nil up to ₹15,000. |
| Andhra Pradesh | Above ₹20,000 | ₹200 | ₹150 for ₹15,001 to ₹20,000; ₹200 above ₹20,000. Nil up to ₹15,000. |
| Tamil Nadu | Above ₹75,000 a half-year | ₹208 | Levied half-yearly by each local body; Greater Chennai Corporation rates shown: ₹180, ₹425, ₹930, ₹1,025 and ₹1,250 a half-year, revised from the second half of 2024-25. Monthly figures are equivalents. |
| West Bengal | Above ₹1,00,000 | ₹208 | New schedule from 1 October 2026 (Notification 1607-F.T. of 16 September 2026): nil up to ₹20,000, then ₹100, ₹140, ₹170 and ₹208. Salaries up to September 2026 follow the earlier slabs. |
| Gujarat | Above ₹12,000 | ₹200 | ₹200 a month above ₹12,000. Nil up to ₹12,000. |
| Madhya Pradesh | Above ₹4,00,000 a year | ₹208 (₹212 in the twelfth month) | Set on annual salary: ₹1,500, ₹2,000 or ₹2,500 a year, collected monthly with the balance in the twelfth month. Nil up to ₹2,25,000 a year. |
| Kerala | ₹1,25,000 and above a half-year | ₹208 | Levied half-yearly by local bodies: ₹320, ₹450, ₹600, ₹750, ₹1,000 and ₹1,250 a half-year, revised from 1 October 2024. Monthly figures are equivalents. |
| Delhi | Not levied | Nil | No Professional Tax levied. |
| Haryana | Not levied | Nil | No Professional Tax levied. |
| Uttar Pradesh | Not levied | Nil | No Professional Tax levied. |
RC vs EC: which registrations does an employer need?
PT states issue two different certificates, and employers routinely confuse them. The RC (Registration Certificate) is the employer's authority to deduct PT from employees' salaries and deposit it. Every company with even one salaried employee in a PT state needs the RC for that state.
The EC (Enrolment Certificate) covers the entity's own liability: the company as a person carrying on business, plus directors and partners in their own right, typically pay a flat amount of up to ₹2,500 per year each under the EC. A private limited company in Karnataka or Maharashtra therefore usually holds both: an EC for itself and an RC for its payroll deductions. Registration timelines are short, commonly 30 days from becoming liable, and both certificates are obtained online on the state's commercial taxes portal.
When is Professional Tax due in each state?
There is no national due date: each state sets its own payment and return cycle, and some scale the frequency to the size of your liability. Monthly payment by the 20th of the following month is a safe working rule in Karnataka; Maharashtra expects monthly payment when annual liability crosses its threshold, and annual payment otherwise; Telangana uses the 10th; West Bengal the 21st. Tamil Nadu and Kerala collect half-yearly through local bodies.
Treat the cycle as per-state configuration in payroll, exactly like the slab itself. When you open a new state, confirm three things on day one: the registration deadline, the payment date and the return format.
What are the penalties for getting Professional Tax wrong?
The amounts are small; the penalties are not proportionate to them. States typically charge interest of 1% to 2% per month on late payment, penalties for late registration that accrue per day or per month of default, and a penalty on top of tax for non-deduction. Maharashtra, for instance, can levy a penalty of 10% of the tax due in addition to interest, and Karnataka charges interest plus penalty for each month of default. Because PT is deducted from employees' salaries, holding deducted amounts without depositing them draws the sharpest treatment everywhere.
PT also shows up in diligence. Vendor onboarding teams and acquirers ask for RC copies and challans per state; a missing registration in one state where you have three remote employees is a finding that costs more goodwill than the tax involved.
Multi-state employer checklist for Professional Tax
Even two states that both collect ₹2,500 a year get there differently: Karnataka charges ₹200 a month from a salary of ₹25,000, Maharashtra the same above ₹10,000 with a lower slab beneath it, and both step up to ₹300 in February. Same tax, different arithmetic in every state. Run this list whenever you hire in a new state:
- Map every employee to their actual state of work, including remote staff, and revisit the mapping when anyone relocates.
- Obtain the RC in each PT state where you have even one employee, and the EC for the entity and its directors where the state requires it.
- Configure state-wise slabs in payroll from a single rate table, and pick up February step-ups (Maharashtra) automatically.
- Apply state-specific exemptions, such as Maharashtra's exemption for women earning up to ₹25,000 per month and common exemptions for senior citizens and persons with disability.
- Diarise each state's payment date and return cycle separately; do not assume the Karnataka date works in Telangana.
- Show PT as a distinct payslip line so employees get the Section 16(iii) deduction in their TDS computation.
- Archive challans and returns state-wise for diligence and inspections.
Sections and Acts cited
- Constitution of India, Article 276: state power to levy tax on professions, capped at ₹2,500 per person per year
- Karnataka Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1976
- Maharashtra State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1975
- Telangana Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1987
- West Bengal State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1979
- Income-tax Act, 2025: deduction of Professional Tax paid from salary income (earlier section 16(iii) of the 1961 Act)
Frequently asked questions
01Is Professional Tax deducted from salary allowed as an income tax deduction?
Yes. PT actually paid during the year is deductible from salary income under the Income-tax Act, 2025 (earlier section 16(iii) of the 1961 Act). Payroll software applies it automatically before computing TDS (Tax Deducted at Source), so the employee gets the benefit month by month. Note that this deduction is available only under the old tax regime; the new regime under section 202 (earlier 115BAC) does not allow it.
02Which state's Professional Tax applies to a remote employee?
The state where the employee actually works, not where your registered office is. A Bengaluru company with an employee working from Pune must hold a Maharashtra RC and deduct Maharashtra PT for that person. This is why multi-state employers keep separate registrations, run state-wise PT rules in payroll, and re-check the work-location mapping every time someone relocates.
03Do company directors have to pay Professional Tax?
In PT states, yes. Directors drawing salary are covered through the company's RC like any other employee. Directors receiving only professional or sitting fees are typically liable in their own right through an EC and pay the flat annual amount, commonly ₹2,500. The company itself also pays a flat annual EC amount in most PT states, separate from what it deducts from payroll.
04Why is Professional Tax ₹300 in February in Maharashtra?
Maharashtra charges ₹200 per month for eleven months and ₹300 in February so the annual total reaches exactly ₹2,500, the ceiling Article 276 permits. Employees earning ₹7,501 to ₹10,000 pay ₹175 monthly with no February step-up. Karnataka has done the same since 1 April 2025: ₹200 a month from a salary of ₹25,000, with ₹300 in February.
05What if we have employees in Delhi or Uttar Pradesh?
Deduct nothing for them. Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh do not levy Professional Tax, so employees working there have no PT line on the payslip and you need no PT registration for those locations. You still deduct PT normally for colleagues working in Karnataka, Maharashtra or other PT states in the same payroll run: the rule is set per employee by work state, never company-wide.