Professional Tax in Madhya Pradesh (2026): Slabs, Registration, Payment and Due Dates

Madhya Pradesh calls it Vritti Kar, and it works differently from most states: the slab is fixed on annual salary, not monthly pay, and businesses pay only if their turnover crosses a single limit. This guide is for employers, HR and payroll teams, traders, doctors, lawyers and consultants in Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Gwalior and the rest of the state. It covers the current slabs, how the monthly deduction is worked out, who must register on the Commercial Tax portal, when the money is due, what happens if you pay late, and worked rupee examples.

Quick answer

In Madhya Pradesh, salaried people pay nothing up to ₹2,25,000 a year of salary. Above that the tax is ₹1,500 a year (₹125 a month), ₹2,000 a year (₹166 a month, ₹174 in the twelfth month) or ₹2,500 a year (₹208 a month, ₹212 in the twelfth month), depending on the band. Employers deduct it monthly and deposit it within 10 days after the month ends. Traders and professionals pay ₹2,500 a year only if turnover exceeds ₹20 lakh.

• Law: Madhya Pradesh Vritti Kar Adhiniyam, 1995, run by the Commercial Tax Department

• Register on mptax.mp.gov.in within 30 days of becoming liable

• Registered persons pay their own tax before 30 September

• Late payment penalty: 2% a month, up to two-thirds of the tax due

Madhya Pradesh professional tax slab for salaried employees

The current Schedule was written into the Act by the Madhya Pradesh Vritti Kar (Sanshodhan) Adhiniyam, 2018 (MP Act 20 of 2018), which took effect from 1 April 2018. The Commercial Tax Department's own rate list, last updated in March 2025, shows the same figures, and nothing has changed for 2026-27.

The tax is the same for government and private employees, and for men and women. The top band reaches the ₹2,500 a year limit set by Article 276 of the Constitution, which is why the last month's deduction is a little higher: ₹208 × 11 + ₹212 = ₹2,500.

Because the test is annual, a monthly salary of ₹18,750 (₹2,25,000 a year) is exactly at the nil limit. Anyone paid ₹18,751 or more every month for the full year falls into the ₹125 band, and anyone paid more than about ₹33,333 a month crosses ₹4 lakh and pays the full ₹2,500.

What counts as salary. Section 2 of the Act defines "salary or wages" to include pay, dearness allowance and every other remuneration received on a regular basis, whether in cash or kind, plus perquisites and profits in lieu of salary as defined in section 17 of the Income-tax Act. In practice that means gross regular pay, not take-home. Reimbursements of actual expenses are usually left out, but fixed monthly allowances are not.

Monthly deduction. Under rule 13 of the MP Vritti Kar Rules, an employer deducts every month one-twelfth of the tax the employee will owe for the year. You estimate the year's salary at the start of April, pick the band, and deduct the matching monthly figure. If someone stops working for you before the year ends, the Schedule says the year's liability is reduced proportionately — you only deduct for the months you paid.

How the 2018 rewrite changed the Schedule

If you have seen an MP professional tax list with dozens of entries — lawyers by years of practice, hotels by number of beds, transport permits per vehicle, factories by worker count — it is out of date. That was the Schedule from 1999 to 2018. MP Act 20 of 2018 replaced entries 1 to 10 with just three:

1. Persons in employment, taxed on annual salary as shown above.
2. Dealers registered under the MP VAT Act, 2002 and persons registered under the MP GST Act, 2017, taxed ₹2,500 a year if annual turnover exceeds ₹20 lakh, and nil otherwise.
3. Persons engaged in the sale or supply of goods or services who are not registered under either law, taxed ₹2,500 a year if annual gross turnover or receipts exceed ₹20 lakh, and nil otherwise.

The same amendment omitted sub-sections (3) and (4) of section 3, which used to let professionals opt to pay on income instead of the Schedule rate, and inserted section 22A, which lets the State Government amend the Schedule's items and rates by notification after giving prior notice in the Gazette. So future changes can come through a notification rather than a new Act. That is why we review this page every quarter.

Professional tax for businesses, shops and professionals in MP

For anyone who is not a salaried employee, the only question is turnover. Entry 3 covers anyone supplying goods or services, so a doctor's clinic, a law chamber, an architect, a chartered accountant, a tuition centre or a contractor is caught exactly like a shop — but only once gross receipts for the year go above ₹20 lakh. A GST-registered professional is under entry 2 instead; the rate and limit are the same.

Two rules from the Act decide most mixed cases:

• Highest entry wins. Section 3(2) says that a person covered by more than one entry pays at the highest applicable rate, not under each entry. A salaried manager who also runs a GST-registered shop with ₹30 lakh turnover pays ₹2,500 once.
• Salaried people with another business. Under section 4(2), if the other entry's rate is higher, or the person works for more than one employer, they can give the employer a certificate (Form 5 or 6 under rule 9) saying they will register and pay the tax themselves. The employer then stops deducting. Without that certificate, the employer must keep deducting.

Companies and partnership firms are "persons" under the Act. A company supplying goods or services in Madhya Pradesh with turnover above ₹20 lakh pays ₹2,500 a year for itself, separately from the tax it deducts from its employees. Turnover is the figure in your GST or VAT returns for the year; for an unregistered supplier it is gross receipts.

MP professional tax at a glance (2026)

₹2,25,000 a year

Nil salary limit

annual

₹2,500 a year (₹208 a month, ₹212 in the twelfth month)

Top salary band

above ₹4 lakh a year

₹20 lakh

Turnover limit for businesses

10 days

Employer deposit window

after month end

Registration on the MP Commercial Tax portal

Section 8 of the Act requires two kinds of certificate from the Profession Tax Assessing Authority — an officer of the Commercial Tax Department, now including State Tax officers appointed under the MP GST Act after the 2017 amendment:

• Employer registration — every employer liable to deduct tax from even one employee. Since 2003 this includes government offices.
• Person registration — every person liable to pay tax themselves: a trader or professional over the turnover limit, or a salaried person who also runs a business or works for more than one employer.

Apply within 30 days of becoming liable. The authority is to grant the certificate within sixty days if the application is in order. If you don't apply, the officer can issue a provisional certificate; you then have thirty days to object, after which it becomes permanent. An employer with several places of work in the state makes a single application, naming one as the principal place of work.

The process is online at mptax.mp.gov.in, under e-Services → New Registration → PT Employer Registration or PT Person Registration. The department's checklist says you download the PT registration template, fill it, and upload it with proofs. The system sends an acknowledgement number by SMS, you can track the application, and on approval it sends the registration number. A dealer already holding MP VAT registration needs no documents. Everyone else needs identity proof, address proof, PAN, the lease deed if the premises are rented, and for firms, companies and societies the partnership deed, memorandum or registration certificate.

Getting compliant in Madhya Pradesh

1. 1

   Check who is liable

   List employees whose annual salary will exceed ₹2,25,000 a year, and check whether your own turnover or receipts exceed ₹20 lakh.

2. 2

   Register on mptax.mp.gov.in

   PT Employer Registration for deductions; PT Person Registration for your own tax. Apply within 30 days.

   Open the MP Commercial Tax portal
3. 3

   Deduct every month

   Deduct one-twelfth of each employee's annual tax — ₹125, ₹166 or ₹208 — and the balancing ₹174 or ₹212 once a year.

4. 4

   Deposit within 10 days

   Pay each month's deductions within 10 days after the month ends through the department's e-payment and Cyber Treasury.

   Tip: Keep every challan — the return is not valid without proof of payment.

5. 5

   Pay your own tax

   Registered persons pay the year's ₹2,500 before 30 September.

Due dates in Madhya Pradesh

The Act sets the payment dates directly. Section 12(2) says tax deducted from salaries must be paid by challan within ten days of the end of the month in which it was deducted, so April's deductions are due by 10 May. Section 12(3) says a person registered before the year starts, or by 31 August, pays the year's tax before 30 September; someone registered after 31 August pays within thirty days of registration.

Returns are separate. Section 9 requires every registered employer to file returns "in such Form, for such period and by such date as may be prescribed", each backed by a challan. The 1995 Rules, as printed in the consolidated copy we checked, prescribe a quarterly return in Form 7 by the fifteenth day of the month after each quarter — even if no tax was deductible that quarter — and allow an employer to apply in Form 8 to file annually instead. Section 10 asks other registered persons to file a return by 30 June. Returns are now filed through the portal, so check the dates shown on your PT dashboard when you log in.

Madhya Pradesh professional tax calendar

Within 30 days of liability

Apply for employer or person registration on mptax.mp.gov.in

10th of every month

Deposit the previous month's salary deductions (section 12(2))

15 Jul, 15 Oct, 15 Jan, 15 Apr

Quarterly employer return in Form 7 with challans, per the 1995 Rules — confirm on the portal

30 June

Return by other registered persons (section 10)

Before 30 September

Registered traders and professionals pay the year's tax (if registered by 31 August)

Within 30 days of registration

Annual tax for persons registered after 31 August

Worked examples in ₹

Example 1 — salary just above the nil limit. Ritu, an accounts assistant in Bhopal, earns ₹20,000 a month, or ₹2,40,000 a year. She falls in the ₹2,25,001–₹3,00,000 band, so her employer deducts ₹125 every month — ₹1,500 for the year. At ₹18,500 a month (₹2,22,000 a year) she would pay nothing.

Example 2 — the ₹4 lakh line. Imran earns ₹35,000 a month in Indore: ₹4,20,000 a year. That is above ₹4 lakh, so his employer deducts ₹208 for eleven months and ₹212 in March. Total: ₹2,500. A colleague on ₹30,000 a month (₹3,60,000) pays ₹166 for eleven months and ₹174 once — ₹2,000.

Example 3 — a mid-year raise. Neha starts April on ₹24,000 a month (₹2,88,000 projected, ₹125 a month). In October she gets a raise to ₹30,000. Her projected salary for the year is now 6 × ₹24,000 + 6 × ₹30,000 = ₹3,24,000, which puts her in the ₹2,000 band. Her employer has deducted ₹750 so far, so the remaining ₹1,250 is spread over October to March — about ₹208 a month. Payroll software usually handles this as a "true-up"; the point is that the annual total must match the annual band.

Example 4 — a 40-person factory in Pithampur. Twelve workers earn ₹14,000–₹18,000 a month (below ₹2.25 lakh a year) and pay nothing. Twenty earn ₹20,000–₹25,000 (₹125 each) and eight earn over ₹35,000 (₹208 each). Monthly deduction: 20 × ₹125 + 8 × ₹208 = ₹4,164, deposited by the 10th of the following month. The company itself is GST-registered with turnover of ₹9 crore, so it also pays ₹2,500 for its own liability before 30 September.

Example 5 — a doctor's clinic. A GP in Jabalpur who is not registered under GST had gross receipts of ₹18 lakh last year: nil. If receipts rise to ₹24 lakh, she pays ₹2,500 a year and must hold a person registration. Her two staff on ₹15,000 a month are below the salary limit, so the clinic has no deduction to make yet.

Our free salary slip generator shows the professional tax line on every payslip, so staff can check the ₹125/₹166/₹208 figure against their annual salary.

Penalties, interest and recovery

The Act's penalties are civil, imposed by the assessing authority after giving you a hearing:

• Late payment (section 13): 2% a month, up to two-thirds of the tax due. A ₹10,000 shortfall left unpaid for five months attracts up to ₹1,000.
• Late registration (section 8): ₹20 a day, up to ₹2,500 where the failure is wilful. Giving false information in the application can cost up to ₹500.
• Late employer return (section 9): up to ₹20 for each day of delay.
• Late return by other registered persons (section 10): up to ₹5 a day, capped at ₹500.

Section 11 lets the department treat an assessment as complete if you have filed all returns and paid the tax due — or simply paid the ₹2,500 maximum — and, if you paid late, also paid an amount equal to the penalty along with the tax. That is a useful way to close a late year without waiting for an order.

Unpaid tax and penalty are recoverable as arrears of land revenue (section 15). Under section 15A the department can also issue a notice to your bank, customers or anyone else who owes you money, requiring them to pay the department directly.

What changed in 2023. The Madhya Pradesh Vritti Kar (Sanshodhan) Adhiniyam, 2023 (MP Act 20 of 2023, published on 11 August 2023) omitted sections 23, 24 and 26 — the provisions on criminal offences, offences by companies and the bar on prosecution. Older guides that warn of a fine "on conviction" up to ₹2,500 describe the law before that amendment. Today the consequences are penalty, interest-like charges and recovery, not prosecution.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Applying a monthly threshold. Some payroll tools set MP up like Maharashtra, with a monthly salary test. That gives the wrong answer for anyone whose pay changes during the year. Set the annual band at the start of the year and re-check it when salary changes.

Forgetting the twelfth-month figure. Deducting ₹208 twelve times collects ₹2,496, which is ₹4 short of the annual tax. Deduct ₹212 once (usually in March). The same goes for ₹174 in the ₹3–4 lakh band.

Using the pre-2018 Schedule for professionals. If you paid ₹1,000 or ₹1,500 because of "years of standing in practice", that entry no longer exists. Under the current Schedule you owe either nil (turnover up to ₹20 lakh) or ₹2,500. Check past years' payments against the right entry before an assessment notice arrives.

Paying without registering. Section 9 makes the return invalid without challan proof, and the officer can issue a provisional registration if you were liable but never applied. Register first, then pay against your PT number so the payment is matched.

Ignoring the certificate for multi-job staff. If an employee says they pay the tax themselves, keep their Form 5 or 6 certificate on file. Without it, you as employer remain liable for the tax "irrespective of whether such deduction has been made or not".

Madhya Pradesh professional tax checklist

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• Project each employee's annual salary and apply the band — nil up to ₹2,25,000 a year
• Register as an employer on mptax.mp.gov.in within 30 days
• Deduct ₹125, ₹166 or ₹208 a month and the ₹174 or ₹212 balancing figure once
• Deposit within 10 days after the month ends and keep the challans
• File the employer return on the portal for each period
• Check your own turnover; pay ₹2,500 a year before 30 September if it exceeds ₹20 lakh
• Keep Form 5/6 certificates from staff who pay the tax themselves

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Staff in other states and income-tax treatment

Professional tax follows the place of work, not the head office. An Indore company with a sales team in Mumbai deducts Maharashtra PT for them, including the ₹300 February deduction; staff in Bengaluru pay Karnataka's ₹200 a month from a ₹25,000 salary; staff in Ahmedabad pay Gujarat's ₹200 above ₹12,000. Staff in Bhubaneswar now pay nothing, because Odisha repealed its professional tax from 1 April 2026. Our state-wise due dates table lists every state's deposit and return date.

For income tax, salaried employees can deduct the professional tax deducted from their salary only if they use the old tax regime; the new regime does not allow it. A business can treat its own ₹2,500 as a deductible expense. Your Form 16 shows the amount your employer deducted for the year.

Official links

• MP Commercial Tax Department portalPT employer and person registration, PT dashboard, e-payment
• Non GST/PT Registration Checklist & Rates (PDF)Current PT Schedule and documents
• Madhya Pradesh Vritti Kar Adhiniyam, 1995 with amendments (PDF)

What to do next

Set each employee's annual band in payroll, register on mptax.mp.gov.in if you haven't, and diarise the 10th of every month and 30 September. Fixing wages for the year? Check the Madhya Pradesh minimum wages first, and see the state-wise professional tax guide if you also employ people outside Madhya Pradesh. If your turnover is about to cross ₹20 lakh, the GST registration guide explains the other registration that usually comes with it.

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 MP for 2026-27?

Madhya Pradesh taxes salaried people on annual salary. Up to ₹2,25,000 a year is nil. Between ₹2,25,001 and ₹3,00,000 the tax is ₹1,500 a year (₹125 a month); between ₹3,00,001 and ₹4,00,000 it is ₹2,000 a year (₹166 a month, ₹174 in the twelfth month); above ₹4,00,000 it is ₹2,500 a year (₹208 a month, ₹212 in the twelfth month). These slabs have applied since 1 April 2018 and were confirmed in the Commercial Tax Department's March 2025 rate list.

Why is professional tax ₹212 in one month in Madhya Pradesh?

The top annual tax is ₹2,500 a year, which does not divide evenly by twelve. The schedule therefore sets ₹208 for eleven months and ₹212 for the twelfth month, which adds up to exactly ₹2,500. The ₹3–4 lakh band works the same way: ₹166 for eleven months and ₹174 in the twelfth, giving ₹2,000. Most employers take the higher figure in March or February.

Do shopkeepers and professionals pay professional tax in MP?

Yes, but only above a turnover limit. A trader or service provider registered under GST or MP VAT pays ₹2,500 a year if annual turnover exceeds ₹20 lakh; below that the rate is nil. Unregistered sellers of goods or services, including doctors, lawyers and consultants, pay the same ₹2,500 if annual gross turnover or receipts exceed ₹20 lakh.

What is the due date for professional tax payment in Madhya Pradesh?

Employers deposit the tax deducted from salaries within 10 days after the month ends, under section 12(2) of the Vritti Kar Adhiniyam. Registered persons who pay their own annual tax must pay before 30 September if they were registered by 31 August, or within thirty days of registration if they registered later in the year.

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

The assessing authority can levy a penalty of 2% a month, up to two-thirds of the tax due. Late registration can cost ₹20 a day, up to ₹2,500, and a late employer return up to ₹20 for each day of delay. Unpaid amounts are recoverable as arrears of land revenue, including by attaching money owed to you by banks or customers.

How do I register for professional tax in Madhya Pradesh?

Use the MP Commercial Tax Department portal, mptax.mp.gov.in. Under e-Services, choose New Registration and then PT Employer Registration or PT Person Registration, download the template, fill it and upload it with proofs. A dealer who already holds VAT registration needs no documents; others need ID, address proof, PAN and, for firms and companies, the deed or incorporation papers.

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.Non GST/PT Registration Checklist & Rates — Professional Tax: Schedule (March 2025) — Commercial Tax Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh · accessed 11 October 2026
2. 2.Madhya Pradesh Vritti Kar Adhiniyam, 1995 with amending Acts (including MP Act 3 of 2018, MP Act 20 of 2018 and MP Act 20 of 2023) — Government of Madhya Pradesh (compilation via PRS Legislative Research) · accessed 11 October 2026
3. 3.MP Commercial Tax Department portal — e-Services (PT Employer Registration, PT Person Registration, PT Dashboard) — Commercial Tax Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh · accessed 11 October 2026
4. 4.Article 276 — Taxes on professions, trades, callings and employments — Constitution of India · accessed 11 October 2026
5. 5.Professional Tax Madhya Pradesh — slabs and remittance — greytHR · accessed 11 October 2026
6. 6.Madhya Pradesh professional tax — rates and due dates — CalcGuru · accessed 11 October 2026