Compliance
Professional tax and labour welfare fund by state
Which Indian states levy professional tax and labour welfare fund in October 2026, with slabs, amounts and deduction months in two state tables.
Two small state deductions trip up more payrolls than PF or TDS: professional tax (PT) and the labour welfare fund (LWF). Each state decides whether to levy them, how much, and in which months. Rates change with little notice, and some states publish them only in Gazette PDFs.
The tables below are compiled from state sources (Acts, Gazette notifications, and the state departments’ and welfare boards’ own pages), as built into Dexta Pay in October 2026. Where an official schedule couldn’t be read, the figures rest on cross-checks and are marked. Always confirm the current slabs with your state department or your consultant before you rely on them.
Professional tax
Professional tax is a state tax on employment. The employer deducts it from salary and pays it to the state. The Constitution (Article 276) caps it at ₹2,500 a person a year, which is why many states charge ₹200 a month and ₹300 in February.
Most states charge it monthly on that month’s gross salary. A few use half-yearly or annual slabs on the period’s income.
States that levy professional tax (October 2026)
| State | How it’s charged | Salary slabs (employees) |
|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh* | Monthly | Up to ₹15,000: nil · ₹15,001–20,000: ₹150 · above: ₹200 |
| Assam* | Monthly | Up to ₹15,000: nil · ₹15,001–24,999: ₹180 · ₹25,000+: ₹208 (from 1 Apr 2025) |
| Bihar* | Annual income | Up to ₹3,00,000: nil · to ₹5,00,000: ₹1,000 · to ₹10,00,000: ₹2,000 · above: ₹2,500 |
| Gujarat* | Monthly | Up to ₹12,000: nil · above: ₹200 |
| Jharkhand* | Annual income | Up to ₹3,00,000: nil · to ₹5,00,000: ₹1,200 · to ₹8,00,000: ₹1,800 · to ₹10,00,000: ₹2,100 · above: ₹2,500 |
| Karnataka | Monthly | Below ₹25,000: nil · ₹25,000+: ₹200, ₹300 in February (from 1 Apr 2025) |
| Kerala | Half-yearly income | Under ₹12,000: nil, rising in steps to ₹1,250 at ₹1,25,000+ (from 1 Oct 2024) |
| Madhya Pradesh | Annual income | Up to ₹2,25,000: nil · to ₹3,00,000: ₹1,500 · to ₹4,00,000: ₹2,000 · above: ₹2,500 |
| Maharashtra | Monthly | Men: up to ₹7,500 nil · ₹7,501–10,000: ₹175 · above: ₹200 (₹300 in February). Women: up to ₹25,000 nil, then ₹200 (₹300 in February) |
| Manipur* | Annual income | Up to ₹50,000: nil, rising to ₹2,500 above ₹1,25,000 |
| Meghalaya* | Annual income | Up to ₹50,000: nil, rising in steps to ₹2,500 above ₹5,00,000 (2012 table; may be out of date) |
| Mizoram | Monthly | Up to ₹5,000: nil, rising in steps to ₹208 above ₹20,000 |
| Nagaland | Monthly | Below ₹4,000: nil, rising in steps to ₹208 at ₹12,000+ |
| Puducherry | Half-yearly income | Below ₹1,00,000: nil, rising to ₹1,250 above ₹5,00,000 |
| Punjab* | Monthly | ₹200 (the State Development Tax), for income-tax payers |
| Sikkim* | Monthly | Up to ₹20,000: nil · to ₹30,000: ₹125 · to ₹40,000: ₹150 · above: ₹200 |
| Tamil Nadu | Half-yearly income | Chennai: up to ₹21,000 nil, rising to ₹1,250 above ₹75,000 (from 1 Oct 2024). Other corporations set their own tables |
| Telangana | Monthly | Up to ₹15,000: nil · ₹15,001–20,000: ₹150 · above: ₹200 |
| Tripura | Monthly | Up to ₹7,500: nil · ₹7,501–15,000: ₹150 · above: ₹208 |
| West Bengal | Monthly | New table from 1 Oct 2026: up to ₹20,000 nil · to ₹30,000: ₹100 · to ₹50,000: ₹140 · to ₹1,00,000: ₹170 · above: ₹208 |
* The official schedule couldn’t be read in full, or the rate rests on cross-checks or an older official table. Confirm before relying on it.
Places with no professional tax on salaries
Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh (exempt since 2011), Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir (an Act exists but we found no sign it is collected), Ladakh, Odisha (repealed from 1 April 2026), Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep.
Recent changes worth knowing
- Odisha repealed professional tax from 1 April 2026 by Ordinance 02 of 2026. Tax for March 2026 and earlier is still payable.
- West Bengal brought in a new salary table from 1 October 2026 (notification 1607-F.T. of 16 September 2026). The nil band rises from ₹10,000 to ₹20,000 a month.
- Karnataka moved to ₹300 in February from 1 April 2025, so the year’s total is ₹2,500.
- Maharashtra exempts women earning up to ₹25,000 a month, and several groups such as some people with disabilities and senior citizens. Most states have person-based exemptions of this kind; check yours.
Unsettled: In Tamil Nadu each corporation and municipality sets its own table; we found a current official table only for Chennai. Meghalaya’s rates are now set by notification and we couldn’t find the current one. Punjab charges only income-tax payers, and it’s unclear whether that means anyone above the basic exemption or anyone with tax after rebate.
Labour welfare fund
The labour welfare fund is a small contribution, from both employee and employer, to a state board that runs welfare schemes for workers. It is usually collected half-yearly (June and December) or yearly (December). Most states leave out managers, and supervisors above a wage limit.
States that collect LWF (October 2026)
| State | How often | Employee | Employer | Deducted from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | Yearly | ₹30 | ₹70 | December salary |
| Chandigarh* | Monthly | ₹5 | ₹20 | Every month |
| Chhattisgarh* | Half-yearly | ₹15 | ₹45 | June and December |
| Delhi | Half-yearly | ₹0.75 | ₹2.25 | June and December |
| Goa | Half-yearly | ₹60 | ₹180 | June and December |
| Gujarat | Half-yearly | ₹6 | ₹12 | June and December |
| Haryana | Monthly | 0.2% of wages, at most ₹35 | Twice the employee’s, at most ₹70 | Every month (2026 caps) |
| Karnataka | Yearly | ₹50 | ₹100 | December salary (from 2025) |
| Kerala: shops and offices | Monthly | ₹50 | ₹50 | Every month |
| Kerala: factories and plantations | Half-yearly | ₹45 | ₹45 | June and December |
| Madhya Pradesh* | Half-yearly | ₹10 | ₹50 | June and December (from 2026) |
| Maharashtra | Half-yearly | ₹25 | ₹75 | June and December |
| Odisha* | Half-yearly | ₹10 | ₹20 | June and December |
| Punjab | Monthly | ₹5 | ₹20 | Every month |
| Tamil Nadu | Yearly | ₹20 | ₹40 | December salary |
| Telangana | Yearly | ₹2 | ₹5 | December salary |
| West Bengal | Half-yearly | ₹3 | ₹30 | June and December |
* Lower confidence: no official page was reached, or sources disagree. Confirm before relying on it.
No LWF deduction from salaries in the other states and union territories, including Assam, Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir, and the north-eastern states. Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have welfare funds, but they are financed from fines and grants, not payroll.
Unsettled: Haryana announces each year’s cap late (2026’s came in May), and when the board must be paid isn’t settled. Odisha’s amounts may have risen (a 2025 release mentions ₹20 and ₹40). Kerala’s shops fund may charge IT establishments more. Who counts as “on the register” for a half-year, and so whether a leaver pays, differs by state.
A worked example
Neha works in Bengaluru on a gross of ₹45,000 a month.
- Professional tax (Karnataka): ₹200 every month except February, which is ₹300. Total for the year: 11 × ₹200 + ₹300 = ₹2,500.
- LWF (Karnataka): ₹50 from her December salary, and ₹100 from the company, paid with Form D by 15 January. Total cost to the company for the year: ₹100.
Had Neha worked in Gurugram instead, there would be no professional tax (Haryana abolished it), but Haryana’s LWF would take 0.2% of her wages, capped at ₹35 a month from her and ₹70 a month from the company.
What to check
- Each employee’s state is the state where they work, not where they live or where the company is registered.
- Your slabs are current, especially for West Bengal (new from October 2026), Odisha (none from April 2026) and Karnataka (₹300 in February).
- Exemptions are recorded per person: disability, armed forces, senior citizens, women in Maharashtra.
- Half-yearly and annual states deduct in the right month, and leavers are handled the state’s way.
- LWF registrations and returns are in place for each state where you have staff, with the employer’s share paid on time.
How Dexta handles this
- Professional tax, every state. Dexta Pay has PT slabs for all 36 states and union territories, monthly, half-yearly or annual, with gender and senior-citizen exemptions. States whose official schedule couldn’t be read in full are marked “please confirm” on screen.
- Staying current. “Bring PT up to date” compares your company’s PT rules with Dexta’s latest standard and applies the changes you accept.
- Labour welfare fund, every state. Pay applies LWF for all 36 states and union territories, by board, in the months each state collects it, with lower-confidence rows marked “please confirm”.
- Late caps. Pay reminds payroll when a state, such as Haryana, hasn’t notified the year’s cap yet.
- Dated rule packs. Law changes go in as a new dated rule pack, so older payroll runs stay tied to the rules they used.
This is general guidance, not legal advice.