Professional Tax and Labour Welfare Fund Changes by State, 2025 to 2026
Odisha repealed professional tax from 1 April 2026, West Bengal's new slabs apply from 1 October 2026, and Karnataka and Assam changed theirs from April 2025. Haryana's LWF cap rose to ₹35 a month from 1 January 2026. The post lists each change with its date, current LWF rates by state, and what we could not confirm.
State payroll rules moved more in the last 18 months than in the previous five years. One state abolished professional tax, another reset its slabs and three others changed amounts or thresholds. This is the list, with dates and the source for each change. A short section at the end says what we could not confirm. For the current contribution tables, see Labour Welfare Fund rates by state.
Professional Tax: what changed
| State | Change | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Odisha | Professional tax repealed. Employers must stop deducting and remitting it. Earlier returns and arrears stay enforceable | Ordinance notified 21 April 2026, effective 1 April 2026 |
| West Bengal | New schedule for salaried employees. Exemption doubles to ₹20,000 and the top rate is ₹208 | Notified 7 August 2026, effective 1 October 2026 |
| Karnataka | Salaries up to ₹24,999 exempt. ₹200 a month from ₹25,000, and ₹300 in February, so the year totals ₹2,500 | 1 April 2025 |
| Assam | Salaries up to ₹14,999 exempt. ₹180 for ₹15,000 to ₹24,999 and ₹208 from ₹25,000 | 1 April 2025 |
| Tamil Nadu | Greater Chennai Corporation revised its half-yearly amounts to ₹180, ₹425, ₹930, ₹1,025 and ₹1,250 across the bands. Other local bodies charge different amounts | From the second half of 2024-25 |
| Maharashtra | Reported change in payment and return deadlines to the 15th of the following month. The slabs did not change | Reported February 2026 |
What to do in each case
- ✓Odisha. Stop the deduction from April 2026 salaries, reverse any amount deducted since 1 April, and do not file new returns. Keep records of earlier years, because arrears under the old Act can still be recovered.
- ✓West Bengal. Apply the new slab from the October 2026 salary. See the West Bengal slab table.
- ✓Karnataka and Assam. If your payroll still uses the old slabs, correct them and check for under- or over-deduction since April 2025.
- ✓Tamil Nadu. Confirm which local body each employee falls under, because the amounts differ.
Professional Tax: states that matched current guides
Maharashtra (nil to ₹7,500, ₹175 to ₹10,000, then ₹200 with ₹300 in February, and women up to ₹25,000 exempt), Gujarat (nil up to ₹12,000, then ₹200), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (nil to ₹15,000, ₹150 to ₹20,000, then ₹200), Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala and Sikkim matched the figures in current state-wise guides when we checked.
Jharkhand uses annual slabs of ₹1,200, ₹1,800, ₹2,100 and ₹2,500. Tripura charges nothing up to ₹7,500, ₹150 up to ₹15,000 and ₹208 above that.
Labour Welfare Fund: current rates
| State | Employee | Employer | How often |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andhra Pradesh | ₹30 | ₹70 | Yearly |
| Chandigarh | ₹5 | ₹20 | Monthly |
| Chhattisgarh | ₹15 | ₹45 | Half-yearly |
| Delhi | ₹0.75 | ₹2.25 | Half-yearly |
| Goa | ₹60 | ₹180 | Half-yearly |
| Gujarat | ₹6 | ₹12 | Half-yearly |
| Haryana | 0.2% of wages, capped at ₹35 a month | Twice the employee share, capped at ₹70 | Monthly |
| Karnataka | ₹50 | ₹100 | Yearly |
| Madhya Pradesh | ₹10 | ₹30 | Half-yearly |
| Maharashtra | ₹25 | ₹75 | Half-yearly |
| Odisha | ₹20 | ₹40 | Half-yearly |
| Punjab | ₹5 | ₹20 | Monthly |
| Tamil Nadu | ₹20 | ₹40 | Yearly |
| Telangana | ₹2 | ₹5 | Yearly |
| West Bengal | ₹3 | ₹30 | Half-yearly |
LWF changes worth knowing
- ✓Haryana. The monthly employee cap rose from ₹34 to ₹35 from 1 January 2026, notified on 8 May 2026. The cap is indexed to the Consumer Price Index every January.
- ✓Karnataka. The coverage threshold fell from 50 to 10 employees from 7 January 2026, and the contribution became annual.
- ✓Maharashtra. Contributions rose from ₹12 and ₹36 to ₹25 and ₹75 in March 2024.
- ✓West Bengal. The split changed in January 2024, with the employee share at ₹3 and the employer share at ₹30.
- ✓Tamil Nadu. Contributions rose from ₹10 and ₹20 to ₹20 and ₹40 in December 2022.
- ✓Odisha. Professional tax was repealed, but the Labour Welfare Fund continues.
What we could not confirm
Published sources disagree on a few states, so we did not change those numbers without a primary notification:
- ✓Kerala's Labour Welfare Fund amounts
- ✓Meghalaya's and Puducherry's professional tax slab structure, where two different schedules are in circulation
- ✓Whether Punjab's flat ₹200 applies only to income-tax payers
Check the state notification or your state labour department for these before you deduct.
A routine for staying current
- Ask your payroll software vendor how and how fast it updates state rules, and ask to see the change log.
- Every month, run a sample of one employee per state and compare the deductions with the state's schedule.
- Keep a file with the notification, the date and the change you made for each state.
Sources
- ✓SCC Online: Odisha repeals the levy of professional tax from April 2026
- ✓SGCMS: West Bengal overhauls professional tax
- ✓SGCMS: amendment in Karnataka professional tax, April 2025
- ✓Akrivia HCM: revision of Assam professional tax rate
- ✓SCC Online: Haryana Labour Welfare Fund contribution revised, 2026
- ✓FutureX: Labour Welfare Fund India 2026, state-wise guide
- ✓SNGSPL: LWF in India, state-wise rates and due dates
State rules are revised often. This is a summary and not legal advice.
Written by
HR Manager, Airwix Technologies (Sleet)
Nihit Dobariya is the HR Manager at Airwix Technologies in Ahmedabad, where he runs HR and payroll for the team behind Sleet. He writes about payroll, PF and ESIC, professional tax, the labour codes and everyday HR practice for Indian employers, and checks each rule against the official notification before it is published.
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