Professional Tax in Assam (2026): April 2025 Slabs, Registration and Monthly Due Date

Assam rewrote its professional tax slab for salaried people in April 2025, and a lot of payroll tables still have the old one. This guide is for employers, HR and accounts teams, traders, professionals and company directors in Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Jorhat, the tea belt and the rest of the state. It covers the current salary slab and what changed, the annual tax for professionals, firms, companies and traders, how registration and enrolment work (including the 2021 deemed-registration rule), the monthly due date the rules actually set, the penalties, and worked rupee examples.

Quick answer

Since April 2025, salaried employees in Assam pay nil up to ₹15,000 a month, ₹180 a month from ₹15,001 to below ₹25,000, and ₹208 a month at ₹25,000 or more. Employers deposit the tax and file Form III by the last day of the following month. Professionals, firms, companies and traders pay an annual tax of up to ₹2,500 before 30 September.

• Law: Assam Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Taxation Act, 1947

• April 2025: nil limit up from ₹10,000; ₹150 slab removed

• Register or enrol within 90 days — GST registrants are deemed registered since 2021

• Late payment: 2% a month interest; late return ₹100 a day, up to ₹5,000

Assam professional tax slab for salaried employees (from April 2025)

The Finance (Taxation) Department substituted Entry 1 of the Schedule by notification eCF No.169350/124 dated 1 April 2025, using the power in the second proviso to section 4 of the Act to amend rates by notification. It was published in the Assam Gazette Extraordinary on 2 April 2025 and came into force on publication. Payroll providers applied it from April 2025 salaries.

There is no extra deduction in any month, so the top band totals ₹2,496 a year — just under the ₹2,500 a year limit in Article 276 of the Constitution.

What changed. From 15 October 2014 to March 2025 the slab was: nil up to ₹10,000; ₹150 from ₹10,001 to below ₹15,000; ₹180 from ₹15,000 to below ₹25,000; and ₹208 from ₹25,000. The 2025 notification wiped out the ₹150 band and raised the nil limit to ₹15,000. Anyone earning ₹10,001–₹15,000 now pays nothing — a saving of ₹1,800 a year each — while everyone else pays the same as before. Note one small boundary shift: someone on exactly ₹15,000 used to pay ₹180 and now pays nil.

Salary means gross regular pay. The tax is charged on the month's salary or wages. Payroll teams usually apply the slab to gross earnings for the month, including dearness allowance and fixed allowances. Under section 5, the employer must deduct the tax before paying salary and is liable to pay it whether or not the deduction was actually made — so an error comes out of the employer's pocket.

Annual tax for professionals, firms, companies and traders

Everyone other than a salaried employee pays an annual tax under entries 2 to 20 of the Schedule. The department's rate table, last updated in 2018 for these entries, shows:

Annual professional tax in Assam for enrolled persons

Who	Basis	Tax a year
Lawyers, doctors, dentists, architects, engineers, CAs, actuaries, tax and management consultants, insurance agents, and any other person not in another entry	Annual gross income up to ₹1,20,000 / up to ₹1,80,000 / up to ₹3,00,000 / ₹3,00,000+	Nil / ₹1,800 / ₹2,160 / ₹2,500 a year
Dealers and mill or industry owners under a sales tax law	Turnover up to ₹4 lakh / ₹4–7 lakh / ₹7–10 lakh / above ₹10 lakh	Nil / ₹1,000 / ₹1,500 / ₹2,500
Companies; registered partnership firms; banks; directors (not government nominees)	Flat	₹2,500
Factory occupiers (not dealers)	Up to 5 workers / 5–15 / more than 15	₹350 / ₹2,000 / ₹2,500
Shops and establishments (not dealers)	No employees / up to 5 / 6–10 / more than 10	Nil / ₹300 / ₹1,500 / ₹2,500
Estate agents, brokers, building contractors; petrol pumps; nursing homes and labs; money lenders; chit funds	Flat	₹2,500
Taxi or small goods vehicle permit holders / trucks and buses	Per vehicle, total capped at ₹2,500	₹500 / ₹2,500

Lawyers, doctors, dentists, architects, engineers, CAs, actuaries, tax and management consultants, insurance agents, and any other person not in another entry

Basis

Annual gross income up to ₹1,20,000 / up to ₹1,80,000 / up to ₹3,00,000 / ₹3,00,000+

Tax a year

Nil / ₹1,800 / ₹2,160 / ₹2,500 a year

Dealers and mill or industry owners under a sales tax law

Basis

Turnover up to ₹4 lakh / ₹4–7 lakh / ₹7–10 lakh / above ₹10 lakh

Tax a year

Nil / ₹1,000 / ₹1,500 / ₹2,500

Companies; registered partnership firms; banks; directors (not government nominees)

Basis

Flat

Tax a year

₹2,500

Factory occupiers (not dealers)

Basis

Up to 5 workers / 5–15 / more than 15

Tax a year

₹350 / ₹2,000 / ₹2,500

Shops and establishments (not dealers)

Basis

No employees / up to 5 / 6–10 / more than 10

Tax a year

Nil / ₹300 / ₹1,500 / ₹2,500

Estate agents, brokers, building contractors; petrol pumps; nursing homes and labs; money lenders; chit funds

Basis

Flat

Tax a year

₹2,500

Taxi or small goods vehicle permit holders / trucks and buses

Basis

Per vehicle, total capped at ₹2,500

Tax a year

₹500 / ₹2,500

Two provisos in entry 2 matter for professionals: a person receiving a cultural, literary or sports pension pays nothing even if they also work, and societies educating physically or mentally challenged persons are exempt. Self-employed people in mobile theatre groups are also listed at nil.

Directors pay personally. Entry 5 charges ₹2,500 a year on directors of companies (other than government nominees). That is in addition to the company's own ₹2,500 under entry 15. A director who is also a salaried employee of the same company should give the employer the certificate under section 5 and enrol to pay the annual tax directly, so the employer does not deduct monthly as well.

Dealer turnover after GST. Entry 6 still refers to dealers "within the meaning of a sales tax law in Assam". Since the 2021 amendment, anyone registered under the Assam GST Act is deemed registered or enrolled under the PT Act, so GST-registered traders are expected to pay the annual tax by turnover band. Use your GST turnover for the year to pick the band, and confirm with your Superintendent of Taxes if your business also falls under another entry.

Registration, enrolment and the 2021 deemed-registration rule

Section 5A sets up two certificates:

• Certificate of registration — for every employer (other than a government officer) liable to deduct tax from salaries. Forms I and IA under rule 10.
• Certificate of enrolment — for every person liable to pay tax themselves: professionals, firms, companies, directors, traders, and salaried people who also carry on a business or work for more than one employer. Forms II and IIA.

Apply within 90 days of becoming liable, or of becoming liable at a different rate. The assessing authority must grant the certificate within thirty days if the application is in order. The certificate states the tax you owe and the date to pay it, and it works as a notice of demand — so once you have it, there is no excuse for not paying.

Deemed registration since 2021. Assam Act XXVIII of 2021 inserted section 5B: anyone already registered under the Assam GST Act, 2017, the Assam VAT Act, the Assam Taxation (On Specified Lands) Act, the Assam Agricultural Income Tax Act or the Assam Electricity Duty Act is deemed registered or enrolled under the PT Act, and must pay tax and file returns accordingly. In practice, a GST-registered business in Assam cannot argue it never received a PT certificate.

Online. The Commissioner of Taxes runs PT e-registration and a registration dashboard through tax.assam.gov.in, and has asked taxpayers to sign up on its newer portal and update their profiles. Payment is made through the department's e-payment links to the State Bank and other banks or through the Assam treasury portal. Keep the challan: section 7 says an employer's return is not "duly filed" without proof of full payment.

Licences can be held up. Section 3A, added in 2005, says no authority may register a person or grant or renew a licence, permit or registration if that person has not paid professional tax. A trade licence renewal (see our Assam trade licence guide) or a transport permit can be refused for unpaid PT.

Getting compliant in Assam

1. 1

   Check the new slab for every employee

   Nil up to ₹15,000 a month; ₹180 a month up to ₹24,999; ₹208 a month from ₹25,000.

2. 2

   Register as an employer

   Within 90 days of the first liable salary. GST-registered businesses are already deemed registered — make sure the PT account is active.

   Assam Commissioner of Taxes — professional tax
3. 3

   Deduct, pay, then file Form III

   Pay the month's tax first, then file the Form III return by the last day of the following month.

   Tip: Paying by the 28th keeps you inside the deadline in every month, including February.

4. 4

   Enrol and pay your own tax

   Firms, companies, directors, professionals and traders pay the annual amount before 30 September.

Due dates in Assam

Employers — monthly. Rule 12(1) of the Assam Professions Tax Rules requires every registered employer to file a monthly return in Form III on or before the last day of every month, covering salaries paid in the month before and the tax deducted. Rule 12(2) says the full tax for that return must be paid into the government treasury before the return is filed. So September salaries' tax is due by 31 October, and February's by 31 March. Most payroll calendars use the 28th; that is earlier than the rule requires but never late.

Quarterly, half-yearly or annual returns. Under rule 12(3), an employer can apply in Form IIIA for permission to file less often. The catch is that you must pay the tax for the whole period in advance, within thirty days of the period starting, and file the return before the end of the month after the period ends, topping up any shortfall. It suits employers with a stable headcount.

Enrolled persons — annual. Section 12(1) of the Act says a person enrolled before the year starts, or by 31 August, pays before 30 September; someone enrolled after 31 August pays within one month of enrolment. Some payroll references show 30 June for Assam; the Act's own text says 30 September.

Government employees. Rule 14 puts the job on the treasury officer or the drawing and disbursing officer, who may deduct the year's tax in one or more instalments. The safeguard is March: an employee's pay for March cannot be drawn until the tax for April to March has been fully deducted and credited under the head "0028 – Other taxes on income and expenditure". Private employers have no such single check, which is why the monthly Form III matters. Whichever route applies, rule 14(4) adds that the employee's own liability does not end until the tax actually reaches the government account — if an employer never deducted it, the department can recover it from the employee too.

Assam professional tax calendar

Within 90 days of liability

Apply for employer registration or enrolment (section 5A)

Last day of every month

Pay the previous month's deductions, then file Form III (rule 12)

Within 30 days of the period starting

Advance payment if permitted to file quarterly, half-yearly or annual returns (Form IIIA)

Before 30 September

Enrolled professionals, firms, companies, directors and traders pay the year's tax

Within 1 month of enrolment

Annual tax for anyone enrolled after 31 August

Worked examples in ₹

Example 1 — the new nil limit. Pranjal works in a Guwahati retail store on ₹14,500 a month. Until March 2025 his employer deducted ₹150 every month; from April 2025 he pays nothing. If he is promoted to ₹17,000, the deduction becomes ₹180 a month, ₹2,160 a year.

Example 2 — a tea estate. A garden near Dibrugarh has 400 workers on daily wages that work out to about ₹6,000–₹9,000 a month (nil), 35 staff and supervisors on ₹16,000–₹24,000 (₹180 a month each) and 12 managers above ₹25,000 (₹208 a month each). Monthly tax: 35 × ₹180 + 12 × ₹208 = ₹8,796, paid before the end of the following month with Form III. The estate company also pays ₹2,500 a year under the companies entry, and as a factory occupier with more than fifteen workers it falls under a ₹2,500 entry too — but the constitutional cap of ₹2,500 per person per year means its own liability stays at ₹2,500.

Example 3 — a doctor in Silchar. Dr Sen's gross professional income last year was ₹9 lakh. Entry 2 puts her in the ₹3 lakh-plus band: ₹2,500 a year, paid before 30 September. Her clinic employs two receptionists on ₹13,000 a month — both below the nil limit — so there is nothing to deduct.

Example 4 — a private limited company with two directors. The company pays ₹2,500 a year as a company. Each of the two directors pays ₹2,500 a year personally. If both are also on the payroll at ₹60,000 a month, they should give the company the section 5 certificate and enrol; otherwise the company deducts ₹208 a month from each, and the directors still owe the entry 5 tax separately — in effect paying twice.

Example 5 — a late return. A Jorhat employer files March 2026's Form III on 15 May instead of 30 April — 15 days late. The late return penalty under section 7(3) can be up to 15 × ₹100 = ₹1,500. If the tax itself was also paid late, interest at 2% a month applies on top.

Our free salary slip generator adds the professional tax line to each payslip, so staff below ₹15,000 can see the nil deduction.

Penalties, interest and recovery

• Interest (section 12A): simple interest at 2% a month on tax that remains unpaid, for each month or part of a month. It applies to employers and to enrolled persons.
• Penalty for ignoring a demand (section 12B): if you don't pay by the date in the notice of demand without reasonable cause, the officer can impose a penalty of at least 50% and up to 200% of the tax due, after a hearing.
• Late employer return (section 7(3)): ₹100 a day, up to ₹5,000. The 2021 amendment raised this from ₹5 a day.
• Late registration or enrolment (section 5A(6)): up to ₹20 a day for an employer and ₹5 a day for others, where the failure is wilful. False information in the application: up to ₹1,000.
• Recovery: arrears of tax, penalty, interest and fees are recoverable as arrears of land revenue (section 13), and under section 13A the officer can direct your bank or customers to pay the department directly.
• Escaped assessment: the department can reopen any year within five years if tax was not assessed or was under-assessed (section 8A).

Exemptions

Section 3 says the Act does not apply to members of the armed forces — persons subject to the Army, Navy or Air Force Acts serving or posted anywhere in Assam, as the 2021 amendment clarified — or to co-operative societies registered under the Assam Co-operative Societies Act. Under its third proviso the State Government can exempt any person, fully or partly, by notification. The Schedule adds the pension and special-school exemptions noted above. On the salary side, everyone earning up to ₹15,000 a month is now outside the tax.

Assam professional tax checklist

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• Update payroll to the April 2025 slab — nil up to ₹15,000 a month, ₹180, ₹208
• Confirm employer registration (deemed if GST-registered) on the Commissioner of Taxes portal
• Pay each month's tax, then file Form III by the last day of the following month
• Enrol the company, firm, each director and yourself if you are a professional or trader
• Pay annual tax before 30 September
• Keep challans with every return — a return without payment proof is not valid
• Clear PT dues before renewing any trade licence or permit

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Common mistakes

Running the old slab. Deducting ₹150 from staff on ₹10,001–₹15,000 after April 2025 over-collects tax. Stop, refund the excess to employees, and adjust the next Form III.

Paying after filing. Rule 12(2) says pay first, then file. A Form III filed without the challan is not a valid return, and the late-return penalty keeps running.

Missing directors. Most companies remember their own ₹2,500 and forget that each director owes ₹2,500 personally.

Assuming 30 June. The Act's date for enrolled persons is before 30 September (if enrolled by 31 August). Paying in June is fine, but a "missed 30 June" notice from a consultant isn't a legal default.

Staff in other states and income-tax treatment

Professional tax follows the place of work. A Guwahati company with staff in Kolkata applies West Bengal's slabs (revised from 1 October 2026 — see our West Bengal guide); staff in Bengaluru pay ₹200 a month from ₹25,000; staff in Bhubaneswar pay nothing since Odisha repealed the tax from 1 April 2026. Our due dates table lists every state.

Employees can deduct professional tax paid from salary income only under the old income-tax regime. A business can claim its own professional tax as an expense.

Official links

• Assam PT rate notification, 1 April 2025 (PDF)
• Assam professional tax — rates for all entries
• Assam PT Rules, 1947 (PDF)Rule 12 — Form III monthly return
• Assam PT Act — Chapter V, payment and recovery (PDF)
• Commissioner of Taxes, Assam — professional tax notifications

What to do next

Check that your payroll uses the April 2025 slab, put the last day of every month in your compliance calendar, and enrol the company and each director before 30 September. Setting wages? Check the Assam minimum wages first, and use the state-wise professional tax guide if you employ people outside Assam.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

What is the professional tax slab in Assam for 2026-27?

Since April 2025, salaried employees in Assam pay nothing on monthly salary up to ₹15,000 a month. From ₹15,001 to below ₹25,000 the tax is ₹180 a month, and at ₹25,000 or more it is ₹208 a month. The Finance (Taxation) Department notification eCF No.169350/124 dated 1 April 2025 set these rates, and they have not changed since.

What changed in Assam professional tax in April 2025?

The nil limit rose from ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 a month, and the old ₹150 slab for salaries between ₹10,001 and ₹14,999 was abolished. The ₹180 and ₹208 slabs stayed the same. The notification was published in the Assam Gazette on 2 April 2025 and payroll teams applied it from April 2025 salaries onward.

What is the due date for professional tax in Assam?

Employers pay the month's tax and file the Form III return by the last day of the following month, under rule 12 of the Assam Professions Tax Rules — so September's deductions are due by 31 October. Many payroll calendars show the 28th, which is a safe earlier date. Enrolled persons pay their annual tax before 30 September if enrolled by 31 August.

What is the penalty for late professional tax payment in Assam?

Unpaid tax carries simple interest of 2% a month under section 12A. A late employer return costs ₹100 a day, up to ₹5,000 under section 7(3), as amended in 2021. If you ignore a demand notice, the officer can add a penalty of 50% to 200% of the tax due, and arrears are recoverable as land revenue.

Do businesses and professionals pay professional tax in Assam?

Yes, as an annual tax. Professionals such as doctors, lawyers and CAs pay nil up to ₹1.2 lakh of annual gross income, ₹1,800 or ₹2,160 in the middle bands and ₹2,500 a year from ₹3 lakh. Companies, registered partnership firms, banks and directors pay ₹2,500 a year; traders pay by turnover, from nil up to ₹4 lakh to ₹2,500 above ₹10 lakh.

Who is exempt from professional tax in Assam?

The Act does not apply to members of the armed forces serving in Assam or to co-operative societies registered under the Assam Co-operative Societies Act. Recipients of a cultural, literary or sports pension and societies educating physically or mentally challenged persons are also exempt. Salaried employees earning up to ₹15,000 a month pay nothing.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 11 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Notification eCF No.169350/124 dated 1 April 2025 — amendment of Entry 1 of the Schedule (Assam Gazette Extraordinary No.139, 2 April 2025) — Finance (Taxation) Department, Government of Assam · accessed 11 October 2026
2. 2.Rate of tax under the Assam Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Taxation Act, 1947 — Commissioner of Taxes, Assam · accessed 11 October 2026
3. 3.Assam PT Act, 1947 — Chapter I (sections 3–5A) — Commissioner of Taxes, Assam · accessed 11 October 2026
4. 4.Assam PT Act, 1947 — Chapter V (sections 11–13A) — Commissioner of Taxes, Assam · accessed 11 October 2026
5. 5.Assam Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Taxation Rules, 1947 — Commissioner of Taxes, Assam · accessed 11 October 2026
6. 6.Assam Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Taxation (Amendment) Act, 2021 (Assam Act XXVIII of 2021) — Legislative Department, Government of Assam · accessed 11 October 2026
7. 7.Assam PT Act, 1947 — Chapter III (sections 7–8B) — Commissioner of Taxes, Assam · accessed 11 October 2026
8. 8.Amendment in Assam professional tax — April 2025 — SGCMS · accessed 11 October 2026