Professional tax in Karnataka: slabs, rules and deadlines for 2026
Karnataka's regime is one of the simplest in India — a single threshold and a flat amount above it — but the threshold moved recently, and payroll set up before April 2023 is very often still deducting from people who no longer owe anything.
| Monthly salary | Professional tax |
|---|---|
| Up to ₹24,999 / month | Nil |
| Above ₹24,999 / month | ₹200/month |
Flat ₹200/month for salaries of ₹25,000 and above (revised from the earlier ₹15,000 threshold in April 2023). Annual cap ₹2,400.
The law that applies in Karnataka
Professional tax in Karnataka is levied under the Karnataka Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1976, administered by the Karnataka Commercial Taxes Department. Article 276 of the Constitution caps what any state may charge a person under this head at ₹2,500 a year, which is why no slab anywhere in India exceeds that figure.
Who must register in Karnataka
Employers register for a Certificate of Registration and deduct from employees. Self-employed professionals — doctors, lawyers, consultants, freelancers — obtain a Certificate of Enrolment and pay directly.
Registration is done through the Commercial Taxes Department's e-Prerana system, which is also where monthly statements and payments are filed.
When it must be paid
Employers file a monthly statement in Form 5A and remit by the 20th of the following month. Enrolled individuals pay annually, by 30 April.
Employers with small liabilities may be permitted to file annually in Form 5; check your registration conditions rather than assuming.
The threshold changed in 2023 — check your payroll
Until 31 March 2023 Karnataka's exemption threshold was ₹15,000 a month. From 1 April 2023 it rose to ₹25,000. Every employee earning between those two figures stopped owing professional tax on that date.
This is the single most common Karnataka payroll error we see. A salary of ₹20,000 attracted ₹200 a month before the change and attracts nothing now. If your payroll still deducts from that employee, you have been over-deducting ₹2,400 a year from someone who owes nothing — and the money has gone to the state, not to them.
Who is exempt in Karnataka
- Anyone earning under ₹25,000 a month — which after the 2023 revision is a large share of the workforce.
- Senior citizens aged 60 and above.
- Persons with a disability of 40% or more, on production of a certificate.
- Serving members of the armed forces.
If you pay late
Interest runs on late payment and the department may levy a penalty for delayed filing. Because the Karnataka return is monthly, a missed month is visible immediately in the e-Prerana filing history.
How it affects your income tax
Professional tax paid is fully deductible from salary income under Section 16(iii) of the Income-tax Act, in both the old and the new regime. Your employer normally accounts for it when computing TDS, so it reduces taxable salary rather than being claimed separately. If you are enrolled and pay directly, keep the challans — the deduction is still available to you.
On a payslip the line usually reads "PT", "Prof. Tax" or "Professional Tax", and sits with provident fund and income tax under deductions. Our free salary slip generator includes it automatically for Karnataka.
Common questions about professional tax in Karnataka
I earn ₹24,000 a month in Bengaluru. How much professional tax?
None. Karnataka exempts monthly salaries below ₹25,000. If your payslip shows a ₹200 PT deduction, your employer is applying the pre-2023 threshold and should correct it.
What is the maximum professional tax in Karnataka in a year?
₹2,400 — twelve months at ₹200. Karnataka does not use the February top-up that Maharashtra applies, so it stays below the ₹2,500 constitutional ceiling.
Is professional tax calculated on gross or basic salary?
On gross monthly salary, not basic. Include allowances when testing against the ₹25,000 threshold.
I am a freelance consultant in Bengaluru with no employer. Do I pay?
Yes, if your income crosses the threshold. You take a Certificate of Enrolment and pay ₹2,400 annually yourself, by 30 April.
Professional tax in other states
Slabs, thresholds and filing cycles differ substantially between states. If you employ people in more than one, you will generally need a registration in each.
The maths behind this calculator is open source and tested — try it in the interactive reference, where the edge cases most calculators get wrong are worked through with real numbers, or read the source on GitHub.