Professional Tax in Karnataka 2026: Slabs & Rates

Professional tax in Karnataka is deducted by employers from monthly salaries under the Karnataka Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1976. Here are the current slabs, the yearly maximum and what employers need to know.

Karnataka professional tax slabs

Tax is worked out on monthly salary or wages, and deducted every month.

Karnataka professional tax
Monthly salary	Professional tax per month
Less than ₹25,000	Nil
₹25,000 or more	₹200 (₹300 in February)

Maximum per year: ₹2,500. The Constitution caps professional tax at ₹2,500 a year for any one person.

What employers need to know

Karnataka moved to ₹300 in February from 1 April 2025, so the year adds up to ₹2,500; the Commercial Taxes Department confirmed the February amount in an advisory on 17 January 2026.
Employers deducting tax for employees need an Employer Registration Certificate (RC).
The current slabs apply from 1 April 2025 (Karnataka PT Amendment Act, 2025).

Who is exempt

People aged 60 or over.
Physically challenged persons.

As listed in the Karnataka Professional Tax portal’s FAQ.

How HivePayroll handles Karnataka professional tax

Set a work location’s professional-tax state to Karnataka and HivePayroll applies these slabs to every employee based there, deducts the tax in each monthly payroll run, shows it on the payslip and builds the PT return from the same numbers.

Each work location carries the state whose professional tax applies (demo company, fictional data).

Professional tax appears as a statutory deduction on the payslip. Example shown: a Maharashtra employee (demo company).

HivePayroll runs payroll with PF, ESI, professional tax, LWF and TDS for Indian businesses. See pricing or book a free demo.

Sources

Checked against these sources on 26 September 2026. State governments revise these rates from time to time; confirm on the official site before filing.