Karnataka has a single salary slab: employees earning ₹25,000 a month or more pay ₹200 a month and ₹300 in February (₹2,500 a year) from 1 April 2025; those below ₹25,000 pay nil. The employer deducts it, registers on the PT portal (ptax.karnataka.gov.in) and pays it to the State. Senior citizens (60 and above) and physically challenged persons are exempt.
Professional tax slabs in Karnataka
Professional tax in Karnataka is levied under the Karnataka Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1976. It is charged on monthly salary and deducted every month. The rates below are the ₹25,000 threshold from the 2023 amendment of the Schedule, with the February amount of ₹300 from 1 April 2025 (Karnataka Act 33 of 2025), as published on the official source listed at the end of this page (checked 21 October 2026). Article 276 of the Constitution caps professional tax at ₹2,500 a year per person.
| Monthly salary | Professional tax |
|---|---|
| Below ₹25,000 | Nil |
| ₹25,000 and above, every month except February | ₹200 |
| ₹25,000 and above, February | ₹300 |
The "PT-Schedule in English" link on the PT portal still shows the 2023 bill with a flat ₹200. Act 33 of 2025, published in the Gazette on 15 April 2025, is the current law: ₹300 in February, so the year totals ₹2,500.
Who deducts it and registration
The PT portal's FAQ says the employer deducts PT from gross salary, pays it to the State, and is responsible for registering and obtaining the professional tax registration certificate. Self-employed persons and businesses paying their own PT get a digitally signed Enrolment Certificate (EC).
The employee does not pay separately when the employer deducts: the deduction on the payslip is the employee's tax, and the employer is liable if it fails to deduct or pay.
Exemptions
- Persons aged 60 or more
- Physically challenged persons; the 1 April 2026 notification on return filing refers to persons with 40% or more disability
Due dates and payment
- Enrolled persons (paying their own PT) pay before 30 April of the year, or within one month of enrolment (section 10(2)). For 2026-27 the date was extended to 5 May 2026 by Removal of Difficulties Order 01/2026.
- Karnataka Act 22 of 2026 (from 1 April 2026) deems an enrolled person who has paid the year's tax to have filed the return.
- The employer's monthly payment and return date is set in the Rules; we could not read it on an official page, so confirm it on ptax.karnataka.gov.in.
Keep the challan or payment receipt for each period and reconcile it with the payroll register: a mismatch between what payslips show and what was paid is the most common finding when the department checks an employer.
Penalties and interest
The official Karnataka documents we opened do not state the penalty or interest amounts. The Act provides consequences for failing to register, deduct, pay or file; read the current Act on the state portal or ask the assessing authority before relying on a figure from elsewhere.
Worked example: Karnataka
A Mysuru software firm pays Kavya ₹24,500 a month until September 2026 and ₹27,000 from October 2026.
- April to September: salary below ₹25,000, so PT is nil.
- October 2026 to January 2027: ₹200 a month, ₹800 in all.
- February 2027: ₹300. March 2027: ₹200.
- Total for 2026-27: ₹1,300. The ₹2,500 figure applies only to someone at ₹25,000 or above for the whole year.
Note that the threshold is "₹25,000 and above": a salary of exactly ₹25,000 attracts PT.
Getting PT right on every payslip
- Use the gross salary for the month to pick the slab, and recheck after every raise or arrears payment.
- Register in each state where you employ people: PT follows the place of work, not the head office.
- Show PT as a separate deduction on the payslip, next to PF, ESI and TDS.
- Under the new income-tax regime PT is not deductible from salary income; under the old regime it is.
Check take-home pay with the salary calculator, the employer and employee shares with the PF calculator and ESI calculator, and show every deduction clearly using the salary slip format. FundRaksha HR calculates professional tax with PF, ESI and TDS on each payroll run and produces the PT, PF ECR and ESI files, so the deduction on the payslip and the amount paid agree. Compare all states on the professional tax slabs by state page.
Sources
- ptax.karnataka.gov.in/faq
- ptax.karnataka.gov.in/documents/pt%20amendment%20bill.pdf
- erajyapatra.karnataka.gov.in/WriteReadData/2025/8459.pdf
- gst.karnataka.gov.in/Profession.aspx
- gst.karnataka.gov.in/latestupdates/PTRules01426.pdf
- gst.karnataka.gov.in/latestupdates/ptrod4426.pdf
- gst.karnataka.gov.in/latestupdates/PTNotification01042026.pdf
Last reviewed: 2026-10-21. Information for Indian businesses; not legal advice.