Licenses & registrations
We get your Professional Tax registration filed and certified in whichever state your business or employees actually trigger it, so payroll deductions and your own annual liability are legally covered from day one.
Professional Tax is a state tax. Whether you owe it depends on where your business or employees actually are, separate from where you're incorporated. We diagnose which state or states and which certificate you need, then file it.
Professional Tax (PT) is levied under Article 276 of the Constitution, capped at ₹2,500 a year per person across every state and local authority combined. Around 20 states and union territories levy it, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, and West Bengal; Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Punjab don't. Liability follows where your business or your employees are actually working. Your company's incorporation state has nothing to do with it.
There are two certificates. PTEC covers your own liability as an entity or self-employed professional, paid annually with no return. PTRC covers your liability as an employer, deducting PT from staff pay and remitting it. We currently handle full filing in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and West Bengal, the three states where we've verified the process, timing, and penalty detail directly against the statute text; other PT-levying states are handled case by case.
Scope
Maharashtra: 30 days from becoming liable to register, under Section 5(3) of the Profession Tax Act, 1975.
Karnataka: 30 days from the date a business starts trading or employing, under Section 5(3) of the Karnataka Act, 1976.
West Bengal: 90 days, under Section 5(4) of the West Bengal Act, 1979.
Specifics
Professional Tax is levied by the state where a person or employer actually works. The company's incorporation or headquarters state has no bearing on that. A company incorporated in Delhi, which doesn't levy PT, still needs a Maharashtra PTRC registration the moment it hires someone who works from Maharashtra.
| State | Registration window | Track |
|---|---|---|
| Maharashtra | 30 days from becoming liable | PTEC (self/entity), PTRC (employer) |
| Karnataka | 30 days from starting to trade or employ | PTEC (self/entity), PTRC (employer) |
| West Bengal | 90 days from becoming liable | PTEC (self/entity), PTRC (employer) |
Any company, LLP, or self-employed professional with a business presence or employees in a PT-levying state. A business with zero employees in-state typically needs only PTEC; one with employees needs PTRC as well, to deduct and remit PT from their pay.
We haven't found either Maharashtra's, Karnataka's, or West Bengal's portal treating Shops & Establishment registration as a legal precondition for PT registration. They tend to arrive together in practice, since hiring in-state triggers both, but one isn't a prerequisite for the other.
Process
Step 1 of 4
State and track diagnosis
We confirm which state(s) you're actually liable in, per the employee place-of-work rule, and whether you need PTEC, PTRC, or both.
Common mistakes founders make
Clarifications
Possibly, yes. Liability follows where your business or employees are actually located. Where you're incorporated doesn't decide it. A Delhi-incorporated company with an employee working from Maharashtra still needs a Maharashtra PTRC registration.
PTEC covers your own liability as an entity or self-employed professional, paid annually with no return. PTRC covers your liability as an employer, deducting PT from staff salaries, usually filed monthly. Most employers with staff need both.
Maharashtra, Karnataka, and West Bengal, the three we've verified process, timing, and penalty detail for directly against the statute text. Other PT-levying states are handled case by case.
Maharashtra and Karnataka both give 30 days from becoming liable. West Bengal gives 90 days. We haven't verified the window for states outside these three.
That's a separate service, since it involves penalty exposure rather than a straightforward filing. See our penalty-response service for missed registrations and notices.
Related
Learn the details
Guides that walk through every step.
Guide
buildwright.co.in
Your Company Is in Delhi, Your Employee Works in Mumbai: Do You Owe Professional Tax?
Incorporation state decides a lot about how your company runs. Professional Tax follows the employee's work location instead, and that catches founders off guard the first time they hire outside their home state.
Guide
buildwright.co.in
Do You Need Professional Tax Registration? State-by-State Guide
Professional Tax is a state tax. Roughly 20 states levy it and about 13 don't, and Delhi, Gurugram and Noida sit on the list that doesn't. Here's how to check where you actually stand.
Prefer to skip the paperwork?
BuildWright can take this off your plate — done properly, the first time.
Specific fixes
Tell us about your partners and business and we'll take it from there.
Get a Quote
Skip the hassle — have us do it for you. We do it best.