Overview of Online Profession Tax Payment in Maharashtra

Profession tax can be defined as the tax levied by the state government on profession, trade or employment, which applies to salaried employees and professionals such as chartered accountants, lawyers, and doctors. The power of levying profession tax by the state government is given under article 276 of the Constitution of India.

According to the Maharashtra State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employment Act, 1976, profession tax is levied on all forms of individuals, irrespective of being salaried or non-salaried individuals. Even corporate entities are liable to pay profession Tax in Maharashtra.

 The online profession tax payment in Maharashtra can be made on MahaGST depending upon the applicable slab rate, which can be made only upon the obtainment of the profession tax Registration.

Regulatory Authority for profession tax payment Maharashtra online

 The online profession tax payment in Maharashtra is regulated by the Maharashtra State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employment Act, 1976. Such tax must be paid by all entities, individuals, and companies incorporated in Maharashtra as per the requirement of the relevant state authority.

Benefits of Online Profession Tax Payment Maharashtra

The Benefits of Online Profession Tax Payment Maharashtra are enlisted below

Increased morale

The online profession tax payment in Maharashtra increases the morale within the profession as it reflects the commitment of the taxpayer towards upholding high standards and working within the legal framework.

Improved Business efficiency: 

Businesses can save on costs pertaining to compliance with different laws and regulations through online profession tax payments in Maharashtra, which can ultimately lead to improved business efficiency and increased profitability.

Increased trust

 The regular online payment of profession tax in Maharashtra helps in building a healthy working relationship, thereby increasing the trust between business partners.

Increased productivity: 

It can also lead to increased productivity as the companies shall be able to provide their employees with high-quality legal services, thereby increasing their value on the market.

Security

In some countries, online profession tax payment in Maharashtra is mandatory for companies to secure protection and fair treatment in various situations, such as at the time of conducting any kind of business or offering services, etc.

Maximum Compliance

Businesses can ensure compliance with the applicable laws and regulations at all times through online profession tax payment in Maharashtra and avoid any penalties associated with non-compliance.

Profession Tax Slab in Maharashtra

In order to facilitate adequate online Profession Tax Payment Maharashtra, the individual must do the calculation of the Profession Tax Liability based on the gross salary and tax slab prescribed by the state government levying such Tax. The tax slab for the same is given below.

Who is responsible for collecting profession tax?

 The Commercial Tax Department is responsible for the collection of profession tax, which ultimately reaches the fund of the municipal corporation. 

Who is responsible for making online Profession Tax Payment Maharashtra

In the case of employees, the responsibility of online Profession Tax Payment Maharashtra falls upon the employer, who is responsible for the deduction and payment of profession tax to the state government based on the monetary threshold, if any, provided by the respective State's legislation.

An employer (corporate, sole proprietorship, partnership firms, etc.), also being a person having trade/profession, must pay profession tax in respect of his trade/profession again based on the monetary threshold provided by Maharashtra.

In such a case, the employer must register and obtain both the profession tax registration certificate in order to be eligible for online profession tax payment on his trade/profession and a profession tax enrolment certificate in order to be eligible for deducting the tax from his employees and make payment of the same. Further, separate registration may be needed for each office, depending on the respective state's legislation.

Persons carrying on freelancing businesses without any employees must also register themselves as per the tax slab in Maharashtra.  

However, a profession tax levy is available for the exemption provided by the respective State to certain categories.

What is PTRE/ PTEC

A profession tax registration certificate (PTRC) must be obtained by the company who is the Employer. Profession tax Enrolment certificate (PTEC) is to be taken by the company for its own existence as well as any subsidiary engaging in the profession (and, of course, business) within the state of Maharashtra.

Documents required for obtaining PTRC/ PTRE for Online Profession Tax Payment in Maharashtra

The assessee must ensure to obtain PTRC/ PTRE for the purpose of making online profession tax payment in Maharashtra, and the Documents required for the same are enlisted below -

• Aadhar Card Details
• Passport Sized Photograph
• Utility Bills
• PAN Card
• Details of the Business
• Mobile and Email ID of Individual
• Information on Employees at the Workplace
• Cancelled Cheque
• Date of incorporation of a Business
• Photo Signature of a Taxpayer

Procedure for obtaining PTRC/ PTEC

The applicant must abide by the following procedure for obtaining PTRC/ PTRE.

Applying for the Certificate

The process for applying for the PTRC/ PTEC, which shall be used for online profession tax payment in Maharashtra, is elaborated below.

 Visit the official website of the Maharashtra GST Portal

The applicant must log in to the official website of Maharashtra GST Portal and apply for E Registration by selecting the option of “New Registration under various Acts", after which the Instructions” page shall be displayed

Check for the Relevant Guidelines

Detailed guidelines regarding the application process flow and a list of required Documents are provided in the instruction sheet which must be checked by the applicant

Validation of   “PAN/TAN Validation

In the next step, the applicant is required to validate the PAN / TAN by providing the details of the same.

Temporary Profile creation

 The applicant must create a temporary profile by providing a  valid PAN, e-mail Id and mobile number. Upon the successful creation of the profile, it shall be valid for 90 days for applying for the online registration with PAN, user-id and password.

Login using credentials  of the temporary profile

After the creation of the temporary profile, the applicant must log in using the credentials for such profile.

Make the appropriate Selection.

After logging in with the credentials, the dealer must select the "Existing Users" option from the menu, followed by selecting the relevant act from the “Act selection”  page, wherein the e-dealer can select multiple Acts for registration in a single application. However, the applicant must select PTRC/PTEC Act from the checkboxes provided in the field "Acts for Registration".

Filing of E Application

Upon making the relevant selections and selecting PTRC/ PTRE, the applicant must fill out Form I/II) under Profession Act, after which the applicant shall be able to access the e application

Providing the Relevant Details

 The applicant must provide the relevant details either by entering the relevant fields or selecting from the drop-down lists and must ensure to fill out the details in the Fields marked as '*' are mandatory fields.

PAN/TAN is a mandatory requirement prior to applying for registration. The selection of the constitution in the form should be as per the PAN.  In case a dealer has opted for all Acts, then the forms will be displayed in the sequence MVAT, CST, Luxury, PTRC, SCPT, ET and lastly, PTEC.

It must be noted that the online application form won't be accepted if the form is incomplete or the required Documents aren’t submitted along with the application. All communication shall be made on the email Id and mobile provided in the temporary profile.

Signing the Application

The applicant must select the ‘Status of the signatory” to the application and provide relevant details. The application should be signed depending on the constitution of the dealer. The signatory, manager/authorized person(s) must sign digitally or by uploading the signature at the relevant place/places while filing the application and submitting the relevant Documents.

Submission of the Application

After filing the application Form,  the applicant must click on the "Submit" button. Upon the successful submission of the Form, an acknowledgement bearing "Application Reference Number" will be available for download on the confirmation page. The submitted application form will be communicated via e-mail as attached in PDF Format.

Verification of the Application by Relevant Authorities

 The preliminary verification/validation of the application shall be carried out by the MSTD portal, including real-time PAN validation with the NSDL portal, Aadhaar No. Validation with the UIDAI portal, IGR details with the IGR portal and Electricity bill utilities with respective service providers such as Tata Power, MSEB, BEST, Reliance Energy and Toronto and issuance of TIN by MSTD Department through inter-portal connectivity before submission of the application form 

Grant of Registration Certificate

• If the application is accurate and complete in all respect, along with relevant Documents, it shall lead to the generation of  TIN  by the Registering Authority after verification.
• If the application is eligible for granting registration, the date of uploading the application would be considered as the date of application for determining the effective date of RC.
• Registration certificates will be sent via email and post. There is no need for the applicants to visit MSTD offices for procurement of Registration Certificates as the same would be made available on the portal in downloadable format with the digital signature of the appropriate certifying authority.

Rejection of the Application

• If the application is found defective, it shall lead to the issuance of a defect memo and e-mail to the applicant. The applicant must rectify the defects within 30 days.
• Upon the rectification of the defects within 30 days, the Officer will verify the same, and upon being satisfied with the same, the TIN will be generated. In this case, the date of the first application would be taken for the purpose of determining the effective date of RC.
• If the applicant doesn’t rectify the defects shown in the defect memo within 30 days, then the application shall be rejected, and the temporary profile will be deactivated after 90 days.

How to Make Online Payment of Profession Tax in Maharashtra

Online Payment of Profession Tax In Maharashtra can be made by following the below-mentioned procedure -

• The assessee must visit the Maharashtra Government’s GST Department website and click on ‘e-Payments’ followed by selecting the option applicable according to the status of the profession tax payment.
• After this, the assessee must select the applicable TIN/PAN/TAN number and enter the respective number along with the captcha displayed in the image.
• The next step is to select the Act under which the payment is to be made. For profession tax, it should be either PTRC Act or PTEC Act. 
• The applicant must enter other details like financial year, the period for which profession tax is required to be paid, location, amount (as per the slab rate) and mobile number and click on the 'Proceed to Payment’ option.
• The Online Payment of Profession Tax In Maharashtra can be made by using the payer's credit/debit card or net banking. Upon the successful processing of the payment, an acknowledgement receipt will be generated, which can be downloaded for further reference.

Profession Tax Payment through GRAS

The government of Maharashtra has provided the facility for the collection of Government receipts of numerous departments through the GRAS (Government Receipt Accounting System). So alternatively, the assessee can make an Online Payment of Profession Tax In Maharashtra by availing of the facility of GRAS. The whole process on the GRAS portal is electronic. Also, the assesses not having net banking facilities can pay via NEFT/RTGS system. The process for making Profession Tax Payment through   GRAS is as follows-

• Visit the Sales Tax Portal of the GRAS
• Select the type of tax for which payment is required to be made.
• Enter the correct TIN. For PTRC, enter the 12-digit TIN starting with 27 without the suffix P. For PTEC, enter the 11-digit TIN starting with 99 without the suffix P. Click on the 'Submit’ option.
• After this, select the correct office location, followed by entering the mobile number. If the name of the employer or individual entity isn’t displayed automatically, it can be entered manually by the taxpayer.
• Select the type of payment in Remark; Form ID will be automatically populated. After which, the taxpayer must select the payment period.
• Enter the payment details like amount (as per the slab rate), payment mode and the bank. Enter the captcha value and then click on ‘Proceed’.
• The payment summary will be displayed on the screen. Click on 'OK' if the same is accurate, which would lead to the creation of GRN (Government Reference Number). The taxpayer must again click on ‘OK’.  And he shall be directed to the bank website.
• Make payment using your net bank user id and password.
• After successful payment, an electronic receipt in the form of challan MTR 6 will be generated, which can be downloaded a print can be taken for further reference. The payment history can be viewed on the GRAS website. 

Persons Exempted from Online Profession Tax Payment in Maharashtra

There are some individuals who are exempted from Online Profession Tax Payment in Maharashtra, such as –

• Member of Force (Governed by Army, Air Force, Navy Act)
• An individual suffering from mental or physical disability. Disability can be blindness, deafness, etc.
• Parent of a child suffering from a disability
• Charitable hospitals are present in places that come below the taluk level
• Badli workers (temporary workers that are employed in a factory)
• Individuals running an educational institute
• A foreign individual who has been employed by the relevant state
• Any individual above 65 years
• Women who are solely engaged as agents under the Government’s Mahila Pradhan Kshetriya Bachat Yojana

What is the Due Date for Online Profession Tax Payment Maharashtra

For the entities enrolling before the commencement of the year or getting enrolled before 31st May of the FY, the last date of the profession tax payment is 30th June of that year itself.

For the entities, which get enrolled after 31st May of the year, the profession tax must be paid within one month of the date of enrollment.

What is the Penalty for Online Profession Tax Payment Maharashtra Delay?

 In case of delays in enrolment under the profession tax, or furnishing of false or inaccurate information or delays in profession tax payment, the legal entity shall be to pay the penalty under the Maharashtra Profession, Trades, Callings and Employments Act decided by the assessing officer.

As per the Act, in the event of any delay or failure by the employer towards the Online Profession Tax Payment Maharashtra, he will be liable for payment of simple interest at the rate of 2% per month of the amount of tax due.