Last Updated on July 27, 2026 by Shankar Jadhav
PT and LWF registration in India is one of the messiest compliance headaches for multi-state SMEs. Moreover, every state runs its own portal, its own form set, and its own signatory rules - and the same document rarely works across two.
This is the exact PT and LWF registration checklist our compliance team follows when a new client opens an office in a new Indian state. In addition, we have documented the four traps that catch first-time filers below.
Before You Start PT and LWF Registration: The 7 Documents You Will Need
Regardless of state, these are the base documents you’ll be asked for:
- PAN of the entity
- Certificate of Incorporation (CIN)
- MoA + AoA (companies) or LLP Agreement / Partnership Deed
- Address proof of the state office (rent agreement + utility bill, both in the entity’s name or with a signed NOC)
- List of directors / partners with PAN + Aadhaar
- Bank account details in the state (some states insist on this; most don’t)
- List of employees with joining dates and monthly gross
Scan them at 200 DPI, colour, under 2 MB each. State portals uniformly reject anything above 2 MB, and about a third reject B/W scans.
1. Maharashtra (Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik)
PT - MGST Department
- Portal: mahagst.gov.in
- Registration under: PTEC (for the entity, ₹2,500/year) and PTRC (for employees)
- Timeline: 7–10 working days for PTRC after document upload
- Signatory: Any director / authorised signatory with a valid Class 3 DSC
- Filing frequency post-registration: Monthly, by end of following month (for employers with annual tax > ₹1L); quarterly or annual for lower slabs
LWF - Maharashtra Labour Welfare Board
- Portal: mlwb.in (form registration is still partly offline)
- Contribution: ₹36 employer + ₹12 employee, bi-annually (current rate - verify on mlwb.in before filing as MH revises periodically)
- Deadlines: 30 January and 30 July
- Practical note: Physical submission of Form A-1 to the local LWB office is still often required despite the portal being live. Our team uses a courier + tracker approach.
2. Karnataka (Bengaluru, Mysuru)
PT - Karnataka Commercial Taxes
- Portal: ctax.kar.nic.in
- Enrolment Certificate (EC): For the entity, ₹2,500/year
- Registration Certificate (RC): For employees, once headcount crosses the threshold
- Timeline: 5–7 working days
- Filing frequency: Monthly, by 20th
- Practical note: Karnataka’s portal is one of the fastest, but the ARN often takes 48 hours to be searchable after issue.
LWF - Karnataka Labour Welfare Board
- Portal: klwb.karnataka.gov.in
- Employer contribution: ₹40 per employee annually + Employee ₹20
- Deadline: 15 January
- Registration: Form A submitted online + physical acknowledgement
3. Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Coimbatore)
PT - Local Municipal Corporation
- Not a state tax - it’s a local body tax. This is where most out-of-state HR teams get it wrong.
- Portal: Chennai: chennaicorporation.gov.in; other cities: respective municipal portal
- Half-yearly filing: 30 September, 31 March
- Employer PT: Levied on the establishment, plus PT on each employee’s income
LWF - TN Labour Welfare Board
- Portal: labour.tn.gov.in/lwb
- Contribution: ₹20 employer + ₹10 employee (annual)
- Deadline: 31 January
4. Telangana (Hyderabad, Warangal)
PT - Telangana Commercial Taxes
- Portal: tgct.gov.in
- Registration: Within 30 days of opening the establishment
- Filing frequency: Monthly, by 10th
- Practical note: Telangana’s PT threshold is one of the lowest - ₹15,001/month. Half of new hires will be liable.
LWF - Telangana Labour Welfare Board
- Deadline: 31 January annually
- Contribution: ₹2 employer + ₹2 employee monthly (aggregated in annual return)
5. Andhra Pradesh (Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam)
PT - AP Commercial Taxes
- Portal: apct.gov.in
- Filing frequency: Monthly, by 10th
- Practical note: AP’s PT rate structure changed in 2023–24; ensure you’re using the current slab table.
LWF
- Deadline: 31 January
- Contribution: ₹30 employer + ₹30 employee annually
6. West Bengal (Kolkata, Howrah)
PT - WB Directorate of Commercial Taxes
- Portal: wbcomtax.nic.in
- Enrolment number (EC): Required for the entity
- Registration number (RC): For deducting employee PT
- Filing frequency: Monthly, by 21st
- Practical note: WB portal requires a specific PDF format for the address proof - combined PAN + rent + utility in a single file. First-time filers waste a week on this alone.
LWF - WB Labour Welfare Board
- Deadlines: 15 January and 15 July
- Contribution: ₹3 employer + ₹3 employee (bi-annually, per employee)
7. Gujarat (Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara)
PT - Gujarat State Tax
- Portal: commercialtax.gujarat.gov.in
- Registration: Within 30 days
- Filing frequency: Monthly, by 15th
- Practical note: Gujarat’s slab is ₹0 up to ₹12,000/month, so entry-level payroll often has no PT liability. Still register - filing zero returns is mandatory.
LWF
- Deadlines: 15 January and 15 July
- Contribution: ₹6 employer + ₹6 employee (bi-annually)
8. Kerala (Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram)
PT - Kerala Municipal Corporation
- Like Tamil Nadu, PT in Kerala is a local body tax - the municipal corporation or panchayat administers it, not the state.
- Half-yearly filing: 31 August, 28 February
- Practical note: The specific corporation matters - a Kochi PT registration is not valid for a Thiruvananthapuram office.
LWF - Kerala Labour Welfare Fund Board
- Portal: klwfb.org
- Filing frequency: Monthly, by 5th
- Kerala LWF has one of the highest contribution rates - ₹50 employer + ₹20 employee monthly (revised 2023).
9. Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal, Indore)
PT - MP Commercial Taxes
- Portal: mptax.mp.gov.in
- Filing frequency: Monthly, by 10th
LWF
- Deadlines: 15 January and 15 July (bi-annual)
- Contribution: ₹40 employer + ₹10 employee
10. Delhi
PT: Not applicable in Delhi.
LWF: Delhi Labour Welfare Fund is active.
- Deadlines: 15 January and 15 July
- Contribution: ₹3 employer + ₹0.75 employee (bi-annually)
- Portal: labour.delhi.gov.in
The 4 Traps to Avoid
1. Using the wrong signatory.
Some states demand a Director; others accept any authorised signatory with a board resolution. Check before the DSC is generated - replacing it later means restarting the process.
2. Treating PT as one filing across states.
Every state’s PT is a separate registration, separate return, separate deposit. There is no “central PT.”
3. Forgetting LWF exists.
LWF is small in rupee terms - ₹6 to ₹45 per employee per period - but the penalty for non-registration includes prosecution in some states. It’s the most-forgotten filing in Indian payroll.
4. Not updating registrations when you move.
Change of registered office = new PT jurisdiction if the office moves states, and always new LWF area. Update within 30 days.
When to Do This Yourself vs Outsource It
- 1–2 states, ≤ 20 employees: Doable in-house if someone owns it end-to-end
- 3+ states or 50+ employees: Outsource. The state-by-state variation eats more time than the compliance is worth
- Any state where you don’t have a physical HR presence: Outsource - you’ll otherwise miss local-body-level triggers (municipal PT in TN/Kerala especially)
We handle multi-state PT + LWF registration and monthly filings as part of our statutory compliance service.
Free Multi-State Assessment
Send us the states where you hire - we’ll return a one-page report on what’s registered, what’s missing, and what the risk exposure is.
Book the assessment → (reply with “multi-state PT” in your message)
Disclaimer: State-level rules change frequently. Confirm current rates and deadlines with your compliance partner before filing.
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