# Running payroll in Maharashtra: professional tax, labour welfare fund and the Shops Act

Published 3 October 2026 by The PayLoom team. https://payloom.in/blog/maharashtra-payroll-professional-tax-lwf

> Maharashtra adds three things to national payroll rules: professional tax with a higher February deduction and gender based slabs, a labour welfare fund deducted in June and December, and leave and overtime rules under the state Shops and Establishments Act.

If you employ people in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur or anywhere else in Maharashtra, national rules on PF, ESI and TDS are only part of the picture. The state levies its own professional tax, runs its own labour welfare fund and sets leave and working hours through its Shops and Establishments Act. None of these is complicated on its own, but each runs on its own calendar.

Note: Figures are as at October 2026. Maharashtra revises slabs and contribution amounts by notification, so check the current schedule before you configure a run.

## Professional tax slabs

Professional tax in Maharashtra is deducted monthly from salary, based on monthly gross. The slabs differ for men and women.

- Men earning up to ₹7,500 a month pay nothing. From ₹7,501 to ₹10,000 the deduction is ₹175 a month. Above ₹10,000 it is ₹200 a month.
- Women earning up to ₹25,000 a month pay nothing. Above ₹25,000 the deduction is ₹200 a month.
- In February the ₹200 deduction becomes ₹300, which brings the annual total to the constitutional maximum of ₹2,500.
- Persons with a disability of 40% or more, and parents of children with certain disabilities, are exempt.

The February step is the detail most often missed. A payroll that deducts a flat ₹200 every month collects ₹2,400 and leaves ₹100 per employee short for the year.

## PTRC and PTEC

An employer in Maharashtra holds two professional tax registrations. The PTRC, the registration certificate, covers the tax the employer deducts from employees and deposits. The PTEC, the enrolment certificate, covers the tax the business itself pays as an entity, ₹2,500 a year, due by 30 June.

PTRC returns are monthly if the previous year's liability was ₹50,000 or more, and annual if it was less. Monthly returns and payment are due by the last day of the month. If you have several offices in the state, decide early whether they file under one registration or separately, and keep that choice on each location's record.

## Maharashtra Labour Welfare Fund

The labour welfare fund is a twice yearly contribution, deducted from June and December salary. The employee pays ₹12 and the employer ₹36 per half year for most employees, with lower amounts for very low wages. Contributions are due by 15 July and 15 January. Managers and supervisory staff above the notified wage limit are excluded, so the rule needs both a designation and a wage test.

Because it appears in only two months, the welfare fund is easy to leave out of a configuration and only discover when the June run is already approved. Set it up as a pay element that fires on its own schedule, not as a one off adjustment.

## Leave and hours under the Shops and Establishments Act

Most offices and shops in the state fall under the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 2017. Establishments with ten or more workers register; smaller ones file an intimation. The Act sets the floor your leave policy has to meet.

- Eight days of casual leave a year.
- Earned leave of one day for every twenty days worked, which can be accumulated up to 45 days.
- A working day of up to nine hours and a week of up to 48 hours, with at least one weekly off.
- Overtime paid at twice the ordinary rate of wages.

These are minimums. Your policy can be more generous, but the payroll has to be able to prove it never fell below them, which means accruals and encashment should be driven by attendance, not keyed in at year end.

## Minimum wages

Maharashtra sets minimum wages by scheduled employment and by zone, with a variable dearness allowance revised twice a year, usually from January and July. Check every revision against your lowest paid roles, including trainees and contract staff on your payroll.

## A Maharashtra payroll calendar

- Every month: professional tax deducted, PF and ESI by the 15th, TDS by the 7th, monthly PTRC return by month end if applicable.
- February: professional tax at ₹300 for those on the top slab.
- June: labour welfare fund deducted, PTEC payment due by 30 June.
- July: welfare fund deposit by the 15th, minimum wage VDA revision.
- December: labour welfare fund deducted.
- January: welfare fund deposit by the 15th, minimum wage VDA revision.

## How PayLoom does it

PayLoom holds statutory rules per state with effective dates. Professional tax reads the employee's work location and the slab table for that state, including the February step. Twice yearly deductions such as the welfare fund are pay elements with their own schedule, so they appear in June and December without anyone remembering them. Leave accrual reads attendance, so earned leave follows days actually worked.