Shops & Establishment and Professional Tax registration

Central tax law is the same everywhere. These two are not: the Act, the form, the fee and the renewal cycle are set by each state, and a practitioner working from a template will get them wrong.

Shops & Establishment registration is required by almost every state for a commercial establishment — a shop, an office, a warehouse, and in most states a purely online business with a registered address. It is usually the first thing a bank asks for when you open a current account in a trade name. States differ on nearly everything else: some issue a lifetime registration, some renew annually; some still inspect, most have moved to self-certification on a portal. The Act also carries the working-hours, weekly-holiday, leave and termination rules that apply to your staff, which is the part people discover only when there is a dispute.

Professional Tax is a state levy on income from a profession, trade or employment, constitutionally capped at ₹2,500 per person per year. It is not levied everywhere — several large states have no professional tax at all — and where it is levied there are two separate registrations: an enrolment for the business or professional's own liability, and a registration for deducting it from employees' salaries and depositing it. Slabs, due dates and return frequency are state-specific.

We tell you first whether either applies where you are, then file what does, and hand you the deduction schedule and return calendar for your state.