Self-employed persons who carry out their profession or trade on their own and fall in the ambit of profession tax are liable to pay the tax themselves to the state government. The Commercial Taxes Department of a state/union territory is the nodal agency which collects profession tax on the basis of predetermined tax slabs which vary for each state and union territory. The tax is calculated on the annual taxable income of the individual, however, it can be paid either annually or monthly. Self-employed taxpayers need to obtain a Certificate of Enrolment from prescribed authority (of the concerned state) in the prescribed manner.

However, in case of salaried individuals and wage earners, the employer is liable to deduct profession tax from the employee’s salary on a monthly basis (as per the applicable professional tax slab) and deposit the same with the state government. The employer needs to get a Certificate of Registration from the concerned authority to be able to deposit the deducted profession tax.