Professional tax in Tamil Nadu
Charged twice a year by your city or municipality — from your August and January salary, at rates that differ between Chennai and elsewhere.
This page is not complete. Greater Chennai's rates and the State's default table are confirmed. Rates set by other city and town councils are not, there is no statewide online payment portal, and village panchayats fall under a different Act that this page does not cover. What we could not verify
Tamil Nadu professional tax slab
As of 1 October 2024 · Greater Chennai Corporation rates from the second half-year of 2024-25 (1 October 2024); Rule 275 default under the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules 2023 · last checked 1 November 2026
You pay ₹1,250 each half-year at a salary of ₹50,000 a month — deducted from your August and January salary, ₹2,500 a year.
| Half-yearly income | Greater Chennai Corporation, from the second half of 2024-25 | Rule 275 default, until a council revises it |
|---|---|---|
| Up to ₹21,000 | Nil | Nil |
| ₹21,001 to ₹30,000 | ₹180 | ₹135 |
| ₹30,001 to ₹45,000 | ₹425 | ₹315 |
| ₹45,001 to ₹60,000 | ₹930 | ₹690 |
| ₹60,001 to ₹75,000 | ₹1,025 | ₹1,025 |
| ₹75,001 and above | ₹1,250 | ₹1,250 |
Source: Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998 (Chapter VI-A) and Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, 2023. New to professional tax? What it is and why every State is different.
How is professional tax deducted in Tamil Nadu?
Twice a year. Your employer deducts one half-year's tax from your August salary and the other from January's, and pays the local body by 30 September and 31 March. In Chennai the amount runs from nil to ₹1,250 a half-year; other councils use the default table or their own revision.
Key takeaways
- →One deduction in August, one in January — nothing in the other ten months.
- →Levied by the local body where you work, so rates can differ between cities.
- →Chennai raised its rates from October 2024; the top band is ₹1,250 a half-year.
- →Late payment carries 1% a month simple interest.
Professional tax calculator
Your State and monthly salary in — what is deducted, when, and whether you are exempt
Where you work, not where your company is registered.
The gross on your payslip, before any deductions.
Exemptions differ by State. The result says whether yours is recognised.
Deducted twice a year, each time
₹1,250
₹2,500 a year in Tamil Nadu. Your slab: ₹75,001 and above (half-yearly salary).
How it comes out of your pay
- August salary₹1,250
- January salary₹1,250
- Total for the year₹2,500
These are Greater Chennai Corporation, from the second half of 2024-25 rates. Where a council has not revised its own (Rule 275 default, until a council revises it), the same salary pays ₹1,250 a half-year — ₹2,500 a year.
When your employer must pay it
Deducted from the August and January pay bills and paid to the local body by 30 September and 31 March with Form 14 (Rule 277).
Where this comes from
Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act, 1998 (Chapter VI-A) and Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules, 2023. Slabs as of 2024-10-01. Full Tamil Nadu rules
Show the working
- 1Gross monthly salary₹50,000
- 2Income for one half-year₹3,00,000
Tamil Nadu measures income per half-year
- 3Slab (Tamil Nadu, as of 2024-10-01)₹75,001 and above
- 4Tax for the half-year₹1,250
- 5August salary₹1,250
- 6January salary₹1,250
- 7Total for the year₹2,500
Why Tamil Nadu's professional tax is half-yearly and local
In Tamil Nadu professional tax is municipal: Chapter VI-A of the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act 1998 lets each corporation, municipality and town panchayat levy it, and the 2023 Rules fix the procedure. It is charged once for each half-year, April–September and October–March.
The rate depends on where you work. Rule 275 sets a default, but each council must revise every five years by 25% to 35% (s.117-B(13)).
Liability attaches to the first day of the half-year (s.117-B(2)). Move from Chennai to Coimbatore in November, and the half-year that began on 1 October was already Chennai's.
How the income figure is measured
The Rules use "average half-yearly income" — the average gross income of the two half-years of the previous financial year (Rule 274(a)), including dearness allowance and perquisites but not bonus or gratuity. The calculator uses six times your monthly salary as a stand-in, which matches for anyone on steady pay.
Tamil Nadu professional tax due dates, interest and penalty
Rule 277 fixes both: deduction from the August and January pay bills, deposit by 30 September and 31 March. If no salary is drawn in those months, the deduction moves to the next pay.
| Tamil Nadu rule | |
|---|---|
| Employer deducting from salary | Deducted from the August and January pay bills and paid to the local body by 30 September and 31 March with Form 14 (Rule 277). |
| Self-employed or enrolled person | A Form 15 return within 30 days of starting, with the first half-year's tax; after that, before 30 September and before 31 March (Rules 278 and 284). |
| Interest on late payment | Simple interest at 1% a month on the unpaid amount for the whole period of default (Rule 286; the Act caps it at 1% a month in s.117-F(2)). |
| Penalty | There is no separate fixed penalty for paying late — late payment attracts interest. Where an incorrect or incomplete return was filed, the penalty is 100% of the difference between the tax assessed and the tax paid (s.117-F(1)). |
What paying late costs, in rupees
No fixed penalty for lateness — only 1% a month simple interest. The 100% penalty applies to an incorrect return, not a late one. On ₹2,500:
| Paid late by | Interest | Penalty | Total extra |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months | ₹75 | Interest only | ₹75 |
| 12 months | ₹300 | Interest only | ₹300 |
Where Tamil Nadu professional tax is paid
There is no single statewide profession tax portal. Greater Chennai Corporation's 2026 notice tells employers to pay by NEFT; outside Chennai you pay the municipality or corporation you work in.
Each local body collects its own tax: pay the municipality or corporation where the establishment sits.
Who is exempt from professional tax in Tamil Nadu
Section 117-H names four exempt classes: the armed forces serving in the State, the CRPF, the CISF, and persons with a benchmark disability. Age is not one of them.
| Who | What the law says | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| Persons with disability | Persons with a benchmark disability under s.2(r) of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016. | s.117-H(c) |
| Armed forces | Members of the Armed Forces of the Union serving in Tamil Nadu under the Army, Air Force or Navy Acts. | s.117-H(a) |
| CRPF and CISF | Members of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Central Industrial Security Force serving in the State. | s.117-H(b) and (d) |
Tamil Nadu professional tax: two worked examples
1. A junior accountant in Chennai on ₹6,000 a month
₹36,000 a half-year: ₹425 in Chennai, ₹315 on the default table — in August and January only.
2. A product manager in Chennai on ₹1,00,000 a month
Far above ₹75,001, so the top band, which is the same in Chennai and on the default table.
| Step | Example 1 | Example 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Gross monthly salary | ₹6,000 | ₹1,00,000 |
| Income for the half-year | ₹36,000 | ₹6,00,000 |
| Slab | ₹30,001 to ₹45,000 | ₹75,001 and above |
| Deducted | ₹425 august salary; ₹425 january salary | ₹1,250 august salary; ₹1,250 january salary |
| Professional tax for the year | ₹850 | ₹2,500 |
How Tamil Nadu professional tax shows on your payslip
Often labelled "Profession Tax", the line appears only twice a year. A ₹1,250 deduction in August looks alarming next to ten months of nothing, but it is the whole half-year at once.
Tamil Nadu against its neighbours
At ₹50,000 a month Tamil Nadu and Karnataka both reach ₹2,500 — Karnataka in twelve deductions, Tamil Nadu in two of ₹1,250. Telangana stops at ₹2,400.
What we could not verify for Tamil Nadu
Left out rather than guessed. If any of these matters to you, ask your payroll team or the department.
- Rates outside Greater Chennai: only Chennai's table and the Rule 275 default were confirmed.
- Whether 2024–2025 amendments changed Rules 274–288 (the gazettes could not be downloaded; Chennai's 2026 notice cites the same rules).
- A profession-tax-specific service on the tnurbanepay.tn.gov.in portal.
- Village panchayats, which fall under a different Act.
Tamil Nadu professional tax: questions people ask
Is professional tax in Tamil Nadu deducted monthly or half-yearly?
What is the professional tax slab in Chennai?
Why is professional tax different in Chennai and other Tamil Nadu cities?
What is the due date for professional tax in Tamil Nadu?
What is the interest on late payment of professional tax in Tamil Nadu?
Who is exempt from professional tax in Tamil Nadu?
Related tools
Sources for the figures on this page
Tamil Nadu: slab table (as of 2024-10-01)
Greater Chennai Corporation press release R.D. PT C.No/3555/2026 dated 4 August 2026, half-yearly profession tax "w.e.f. II/2024-2025": up to ₹21,000 nil; ₹21,001–30,000 ₹180; ₹30,001–45,000 ₹425; ₹45,001–60,000 ₹930; ₹60,001–75,000 ₹1,025; ₹75,001 and above ₹1,250. Rule 275(2), Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules 2023, default table: nil / ₹135 / ₹315 / ₹690 / ₹1,025 / ₹1,250 on the same bands.
View sourceChecked 2026-11-01
Tamil Nadu: due dates
Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Rules 2023, Rule 277(2) ("deducted by his employer ... from the respective pay bill for the month of August and January every year"), Rule 277(3) ("by 30th September and 31st March every year along with the details in Form 14") and Rule 284.
View sourceChecked 2026-11-01
Tamil Nadu: interest and penalty
Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act 1998, s.117-F(1)–(2); Rules 2023, Rule 286 ("interest at the rate of one percent simple interest per month of the amount unpaid for the entire period of default").
View sourceChecked 2026-11-01
Tamil Nadu: exemptions
Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act 1998, s.117-H.
View sourceChecked 2026-11-01
Constitutional ceiling on the total professional tax payable by one person in a State, per year
Constitution of India, Article 276(2), as amended by the Constitution (Sixtieth Amendment) Act, 1988. The Statement of Objects and Reasons records that clause (2) previously capped the tax at "two hundred and fifty rupees per annum" and that it was "accordingly proposed to amend clause (2) of article 276 of the Constitution to increase the ceiling of profession tax from two hundred and fifty rupees per annum to two thousand and five hundred rupees per annum", omitting the then-existing proviso as no longer relevant. The levy itself is imposed by each State under Article 276(1) through its own Act, so the slabs differ by State and no national slab table exists.
View sourceChecked 2026-10-14
Written and reviewed by Deepak Middha, Chartered Accountant (ICAI, India) and founder of LayoffNext.
Founder of LayoffNext. Chartered Accountant and finance educator who builds free tools for people navigating layoffs.