Professional Tax in West Bengal: Slabs, Due Dates and Online Payment (2026)

At ₹200 a month, the most a salaried person pays in West Bengal is ₹2,400 a year, under the constitutional cap of ₹2,500.

• Registration (RC): for employers, to deduct professional tax from staff salaries and deposit it.
• Enrolment (EC): for businesses, professionals and the self-employed, to pay their own professional tax. The amount depends on the category: the type of entity, profession or trade.

Many businesses need both, for example a company that has employees and also pays its own enrolment tax. Registration should be taken as soon as you become liable: when you first pay salaries above the exemption limit, or start the business or profession.

The state has extended return dates in some years, so check the current year's notification on the commercial taxes portal before relying on a date.

New applicants first apply for registration or enrolment on the portal with the business PAN, address and constitution details. The certificate number they receive is what every later payment and return is filed under.

1. Log in to the West Bengal profession tax portal of the Directorate of Commercial Taxes with your registration or enrolment number. New applicants register there first.
2. Select the period and enter the tax deducted, for employers, or your enrolment tax.
3. Generate the challan and pay online through GRIPS, the state government's receipt portal, by net banking or other online modes.
4. Download the payment receipt and keep it with your payroll records.
5. File the annual return on the same portal after the year ends.

1. Take the registration certificate before or as you run the first payroll that has salaries above ₹10,000 a month.
2. Set up the slab in your payroll software or sheet, and recheck it when salaries change, especially around the ₹15,000, ₹25,000 and ₹40,000 boundaries.
3. Diarise the 21st for every month's deposit, and the annual return after 31 March.
4. Show the deduction on payslips and in Form 16, so employees can see it.
5. If the business also needs an enrolment certificate, pay that tax by 31 July each year.

Use our salary calculator to see the effect on take-home pay. Our employment law compliance guide lists the other registrations a new employer needs, such as PF and ESI.

Late payment attracts interest of 1% a month on the unpaid tax. Penalties can also be levied for not registering, not deducting, or not filing the return. Since the tax per employee is small, the interest and penalties often end up larger than the tax. That is the main reason to keep the 21st-of-the-month deadline in your payroll calendar.

For how professional tax works across states and its income tax treatment, see our professional tax guide. Running payroll in Kolkata or elsewhere in Bengal? TaxQue handles professional tax registration and the monthly deposits and returns through our PT filing service.