1

THE CANONS OF MAHARASHTRA’S PROFESSIONAL

TAXES

By
Brian Noronha
20171BBL0006
BBA LLB Section 1

SUBMITTED TO
Prof. Sujith Surendran

SCHOOL OF LAW, PRESIDENCY UNIVERSITY

BANGALORE
KARNATAKA, INDIA
November, 2020
 2

THE CANONS OF MAHARASHTRA’S PROFESSIONAL

TAXES

B Y:

BRIAN NORONHA

The term “Canons of Taxation” is used to refer to the characteristics or qualities which a good
tax system should possess. The canons of taxation are related to the administrative part of a tax
system. Esteemed Adam Smith first devised the principles or canons of taxation in 1776 in his book
known in short as the “Wealth of Nations”.

Even in the 21st century, Smithian canons of taxation are applied by the modern governments
while imposing and collecting taxes. By this paper, the Author would aim to explore the
applicability of the canons of taxation as propounded by Adam Smith and the developments made
to suit our modern taxation systems.

INDEX OF CHAPTERS
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………..3

WHAT ARE THE CANONS…………………………………………………………....4

THE CANONS IN MAHARASHTRA’S PROFESSIONAL TAX…………………………….9

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………14

TABLES AND FIGURES……………………………………………………………...15

 3

INTRODUCTION

The modern 21st Century world of ours has come about with a variety of innovations that have
spurned civilization into a new era of technology and advancement. In my opinion, the
advancement of economics and trade has brought about the stepping stones of our current times.
The advancement of economics is due to the advancement of a sound governmental structure
placed to provide citizens with a free market setup which has furthered the attractiveness toward
doing more than what our forefathers left us.

The current welfare state economic regime which most if not all sovereign states around the globe
currently follow has transpired directly from a better and more efficient tax structure. The current
Indian taxation structure formulated when the landmass was still under foreign occupation. Just
after the Great Revolt of 1857, the first ever Finance Member of the Governor General-in-Council
was James Wilson. In 1860 he proposed the first ever Income Tax Act of India. This was done to
meet the losses faced during the revolt, and also to meet the needs of the Government. The
utilization of this revenue was primarily for the purposes of defence and security. The Local
Governments were left to collect revenues for the purpose of development and the like. Therefore
it seems to me that the objective behind the collection of the tax is directly linked with the actual
system put in place for this tax being collected.

In his Book V, Chapter 2 of The Wealth of Nations from the 18th Century, the great economist
Adam Smith had proposed the four “maxims of taxation in general.” In our modern usage we refer
to these as the Four Classic Canons of Taxation. These four principles speak of what an ideal
taxation system should include if it aims to be successful. They refer to the Canons of Equity,
Certainty, Economy, and Convenience.

Charles F. Bastable, through his book titled Public Finance, has included five more principles
which are now accepted as Canons as well. These include the Canons of Elasticity, Productivity,
Simplicity, Diversity, and Expediency.

Through the following pages of this paper, I shall attempt to briefly discuss these various principles
and analyse them in respect of The Maharashtra State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and
Employments Act, 1975.
 4

WHAT ARE THE CANONS?

Therefore before discussing the Indian state of Maharashtra, and its Professional Taxes, we must
first understand the principles and maxims which form an effective and ideal tax regime. As stated
previously, the original ideas were coined by Adam Smith through his famous work known widely
as “The Wealth of Nations”.

The Four Maxims of Taxation as proposed by him were:

 The Canon of Equity

 The Canon of Certainty
 The Canon of Economy
 The Canon of Convenience
Let us now discuss what each principle means.

1. Equity
The first such principle is that of equity. This consists of two basic propositions: that those with
equal resources should pay an equal amount of tax (horizontal equity), and that those with unequal
resources should pay different amounts of tax (vertical equity). Taxes which conform to the latter
principle can themselves be classified as proportional (the amount of tax payable is determined in
direct proportion with the taxpayer's wealth or income) and progressive (tax is determined in
increasing proportion with wealth or income). Conversely, a system which provides for the overall
burden of tax to decrease as wealth increases, is known as regressive.

We can observe certain elements of this principle in the Indian Income Taxes. There are different
slabs of tax rates set up with the lesser income amounts being charged a smaller portion compared
to higher incomes having more tax to pay per rupee for the higher amount. Further the slabs are
also set in a way that even if two individuals have different levels of income, for the same level
they pay the same amount of tax. Therefore, we can observe the influence of this principle in the
Income Tax system of our country.
 5

2. Certainty
Adam Smith further said, “The tax which each individual has to pay ought to be certain and not
arbitrary. The time of payment, the amount to be paid ought all to be clear and plain to the
contributor and to every other person.” The individual should know exactly what, when and how
he is to pay a tax otherwise it will cause unnecessary suffering. Similarly, the State should also
know how much it will receive from a tax.

From this principle we can observe that the Goods and Service Tax system being followed in India
since 2017, and the Service tax system before it had this principle in mind while deciding on the
amounts of tax to be paid. We observe that the rates of tax remain the same for the same type of
product or service as the case may be and therefore both the customer and the vendor is usually at
comfort with regards pricing based on the tax being charged on it. The State too is at ease knowing
only that the volume of goods, services and other items being sold would result in a difference in
the amount of tax collected, and not the tax by itself.

3. Economy
Adam Smith held that “every tax ought to be so contrived as both to take out and keep out of the
pockets of the people as little as possible over and above what it brings into the public treasury of
the State.” This means that the cost of collection should be as small as possible. If the bulk of the
tax is spent on its collection, it will take much out of the people’s pockets but bring very little into
the State’s pocket.

Following this principle, the Table 1 on page 15 showcases how the trend of revenue collection
from Indirect Tax Sources in India has changed from FY 2000-01 to FY 2014-15. As we can
observe that in 2000-01, the percentage of revenue from Service Tax was a mere 2.2%. However
15 years later that percentage had grown to 30.9%. Further the other sources of Indirect Tax such
as Excise Duties had dwindled from a major 57.2% to a moderate 34.6%, almost the same as
Service Tax. The message we must understand from these figures is that the Revenue collection
model of India has in the Indirect Tax sphere expanded its collection more towards cost effective
taxes compared to less economical ones. The collection of service taxes is much more economical
than excise duty since for the latter we require a proper set up including a full department involved
with excise officers and so on, however the collection of service tax is from buyer to seller directly,
 6
and then finally to the State. Therefore, putting lesser dependence on less economical taxes is a
great perception of this principle by the Indian tax system.

4. Convenience
Lastly, Adam Smith wrote, “Every tax ought to be levied at the time or in the manner which it is
most likely to be convenient to pay it.” Obviously, there is no sense in fixing a time and method
of payment which are not suitable. This principle does not require much explanation. It shall be
enough to say that the easiest and most convenient method of tax payment should be always
adopted,

Land revenue in India is realised after the harvest has been collected. This is the time when
cultivators can conveniently pay. Therefore it ensures that the cultivator does not feel it as a burden
to even complete the transaction of tax payment.

The time and manner of tax payments should be made as convenient to tax-payers as possible. The
Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) method of collecting personal taxation under which an employer
deducts tax on behalf of employees and pays it to the Finance Department is a good example of
this quality. For this reason, the salaried persons are taxed at the source that is at the source of
income.

Now that we have discussed about the principles or maxims as defined by Adam Smith, let us
move on to the canons of taxation which were forwarded by Charles F. Bastable and have been
already mentioned before. Therefore the Canons are enumerated as follows:

 The Canon of Elasticity

 The Canon of Productivity
 The Canon of Simplicity
 The Canon of Diversity
 The Canon of Expediency

Let us discuss each individually.

 7

1. Elasticity
A tax should be sufficiently elastic in yield. The amount of tax ought to be so contrived that it can
be varied according to the needs of the government. For instance, the rate of income tax is variable.
In modern times, all taxes and their rates can be varied.

The rate of income tax is liable to be changed according to the changes in the level of income of
the people. The land revenue is, however, fixed for a period. It is not liable to be changed as is
possible in the case of income tax. In case of crop failure, the government can, of course, grant
remission.

2. Productivity
All taxes should be productive. It is better not to impose a tax whose yield is negligible. The canon
of pro-ductivity implies that taxes should be imposed in such a manner as not to hamper production
or to decrease the volume of resources collected. In other words, the levy of a tax should not only
increase the income of the State, it must not also destroy the incentives of the people to undertake
productive enterprises. A tax is said to be a productive one only when it acts as an incentive to
production.

Therefore the observance of this principle would mean ensuring that there are no taxes currently
in our system which do not actually serve any purpose. From our previous observation in Table 1,
we see that those sources that are becoming less and less useful are being swapped out for better
and more efficient ones, thus following through with this principle.

3. Simplicity
Every tax must be simple and intelligible to the people so that the taxpayer is able to calculate it
without taking the help of tax consultants. A complex as well as a complicated tax is bound to
yield undesirable side-effects. It may encourage taxpayers to evade taxes if the tax system is found
to be complicated. A complicated tax system is expensive in the sense that even the most honest
educated taxpayers will have to seek advice of the tax consultants. Ultimately, such a tax system
has the potentiality of breeding corruption in the society.

This is an upgrade on the convenience principle, which we have observed previously. The various
methods of tax payment such as collection at source, and tax returns being issued to vendors based
on the amount of sales actually completed, form a part of this principle. For example, the seller is
 8
first asked to deposit a certain amount of his revenue based on the tax rates, and then at the end of
that period if he has paid extra than he should, he is returned his dues. This ensures that vendors
do not have to get entangled in heavy calculations at the end for the purposes of tax payment.

There is however, a major non observance of this rule in terms of the Goods and Service Tax
system being followed 1. “The consistent policy rollbacks and amendments, powered by the glitchy
GSTN Network, have enabled massive tax evasion. The benevolent composition scheme, as well
as windows for filing quarterly returns, raise concerns about the intention and execution prowess
of the government at the Center.” We have to address these concerns in light of this principle.

4. Diversity
Taxation must be dynamic. This means that a country’s tax structure ought to be dynamic or
diverse in nature rather than having a single or two taxes. Diversification in a tax structure will
demand involvement of the majority of the sectors of the population. If a single tax system is
introduced, only a particular sector will be asked to pay to the national exchequer leaving a large
number of population untouched. Obviously, incidence of such a tax system will be greatest on
certain taxpayers. A dynamic or a diversified tax structure will result in the allocation of burden
of taxes among the vast population resulting in a low degree of incidence of a tax in the aggregate.

This principle follows on the English idiom of “don’t put all your eggs into one basket”. If we rely
for our revenue from only source, then this dependency can result in a future loss situation.
Therefore as observed by the plethora of Indian taxes, the State does follow this principle by
charging taxes via various methods.

5. Expediency
This suggests that a tax should be determined on the ground of its economic, social and political
expediency. For instance, a tax on agricultural income lacks social, political or administrative
expediency in India and that is why the government of India had to discontinue it.

1
https://blog.saginfotech.com/gst-issues-
india#:~:text=There%20is%20an%20estimated%20mismatch,to%20correctly%20report%20revenue%20statements.
 9

THE CANONS IN MAHARASHTRA’S PROFESSIONAL TAX

Now that we have fully discussed the various principles that have been laid down by the classical
economists Adam Smith and Charles F. Bastable, let us understand them in the perspective of the
professional tax being levied in the state of Maharashtra.

Profession tax is the tax levied and collected by the state governments in India. It is an indirect
tax. A person earning an income from salary or anyone practicing a profession such as chartered
accountant, company secretary, lawyer, doctor etc. are required to pay this professional tax.
Different states have different rates and methods of collection. In India, profession tax is imposed
every month. However, not all states impose this tax. The states which impose professional tax are
Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Assam, Kerala, Meghalaya, Odisha, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand
and Sikkim. Business owners, working individuals, merchants and people carrying out various
occupations come under the purview of this tax.

The Constitution of India via article 276 gives the power to state legislations to enact laws for the
purposes of collecting and charging taxes on professions, trades, callings and employments.2

Therefore in 1975 the Maharashtra legislature has enacted the Act called as the Maharashtra State
Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1975. Via the Act, every person,
engaged actively or otherwise in any profession, trade, calling or employment and falling under
one or other classes mentioned in Schedule I of the Act, is liable to pay, to the State Government,
tax prescribed under the said Schedule 3.

Therefore it is pertinent to check whether this Act follows the Canons of Taxation.

Firstly we can observe that the Canon of Equity has been followed to a certain degree in this
legislation.

Table 2 on page 16 represents Schedule I of the Act which tells us the rates at which professional
tax has to be paid.

2
Art. 276 of the Constitution of India
3
S. 3(2) of Maharashtra State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1975
 10

The Canon of Equity is being followed, to an extent, since we can observe that people of different
income groups are being charged an amount of tax based on their ability to pay. This however, is
not the full implementation of this principle. According to the rates, all people receiving a salary
above the means of Rs. 10,000 are being charged a sum of Rs. 2,500 annually. Perhaps for when
this Act was made, the former figure would have been a huge sum, however, looking in the current
economic climate, we must upgrade this amount to a higher range or rather a better method would
be to add newer and higher designations, such as Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 50,000.

I believe it would also be better to pay a higher tax rate for each higher slab rather than a
standardized amount to be paid.

Further there are some categories where each and every individual qualifying via it would have to
pay an equal amount irrespective of their ability. From 2006 onwards, if we observe only items 2,
5, 6, and 7 we can see that all of the people mentioned in those columns are required to pay an
amount of Rs. 2,500 as tax. Now, it seems as if we are clubbing a jockey trained to ride a derby
horse and a highly qualified doctor or lawyer, and possibly highly earning as well, in the same
category and ability. Therefore the Canon of Equity needs to be implemented better in my view.

Now let us look at how this Act implements the Canon of Certainty. The aim of a Professional tax
is not to charge a portion of a person’s livelihood, but is for the purposes of bettering employment
opportunities and quality of such employment. Following this we see that there is a level of
certainty being followed on the case of this legislation since the fixed amounts of tax are updated
very rarely, if at all.

I shall also discuss the Canons of Economy and Convenience together, as in regards to this taxation
system I fell that they are linked to each other. These principles say that the State should not be
spending more on the collection of the tax itself than the amount of tax actually received, and that
a tax collection system should not be so complex that it somehow breeds evasion. Well, this Act
seems to cover both principles quite well.

The Act, via sections 4 and 5, attaches the liability of both collection the tax due and paying such
dues to the Government to the Employer and not to the actual payee. Therefore this feature I
believe quite excellently establishes that both of the Canons are being satisfied in that there is
 11
hardly any inconvenience from the taxpayer’s side, and neither is there a huge amount spent on
collection.

Now coming to the Canon of Elasticity, we see that clearly the Act does not account for any need
of elasticity. Perhaps the State feels that the needs this tax is being collected for are being
adequately met and hence there is no requirement to account for any elasticity. I do believe that
since the Statement of Objects and Reasons clearly state the tax is being collected for the
betterment of employment in Maharashtra4, there seems to be no requirement for elasticity since
clearly this is not the only revenue collection done for the same purpose. The State has other means
to service the development in this respect and hence the Canon could even be ignored.

The Canon of Productivity has been followed simply because of the reason that the tax is being
collected again. The tax is quite low, but even then the productivity cannot be fully judged since
the development of employment in the state does not only follow from this tax. There are several
municipal taxes and state taxes being collected for the purposes of development albeit not just for
employment development, however there are several other methods too for fulfilling this need.
Perhaps then we could say that a specific set of needs and expenditures needs to be set out for each
year, like a budget, on the basis of the previous year’s collection. This would fully ensure that the
principle is being followed.

The Canon of Simplicity is fairly fulfilled via the method of tax payment in this tax. The Rules
associated with the legislation state that professional tax dues are supposed to be paid
electronically only.

However, the method of payment is different. The same is as below,

Normally, while making statutory payments, we select the month for which the salary is paid,
however for profession tax payment, the next month of the contribution month should be selected.

For example, for dues of salaries paid for month of January 2019, one should select the period
February 2019. For February 2019, one should select period as March 2019, for March 2019, one
should select the period April 2019 and so on.

4
Maharashtra Government Gazette, 1975, Part V, page 378.
 12
This method is supposed to be followed for monthly payments only. For yearly payment, one has
to select the entire year April to March by default.

If in case, incorrect period is selected while making the payment, the profession tax portal will
throw error at the time of filing the E-Returns and hence the said challans should be rectified by
writing a request letter to the Profession Tax department.

Thus, this ensures that there is no difficulty for the employers who are liable to collect and pay the
tax dues to the Government, in the actual payment.

The Canon of Diversity is rather wholeheartedly followed in this taxation system by the provisions
of the Act. The Schedule I already referred to earlier showcases just how many different types of
employment are covered. Therefore there is no chance of there being just one single basket for all
the eggs in this tax system.

Finally coming to the Canon of Expediency, the principle has been followed properly. The reason
for this is that a certain list of exemptions has been given below.

Following classes of persons are exempt from payment of profession tax: 5

1. Members of armed forces of Union serving in the State;

2. Badli workers in the textile industry;
3. Any person suffering from a permanent physical disability (including blindness) specified
in the rules, certified by a physician, a surgeon or an oculist, working in a Government
hospital, which has the effect of reducing considerably such individual’s capacity for
normal working or engaging in a gainful employment or occupation and also his parents
or guardians;
4. Women exclusively engaged as agents under the Mahila Pradhan Kshetriya Bachat Yojana
of Directorate of Small Savings;
5. Any person and parents or guardians of such person who is suffering from mental
retardation specified in the rules, and, certified by a psychiatrist working in a Government
hospital;
6. Persons having completed age of 65 years (w.e.f. 1-4-1995);

5
S. 27A of The Maharashtra State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1975
 13
7. Parents or guardians of a child suffering from a physical disability mentioned in (3) above;
8. Partnership firms and HUFs (but each partner of a partnership firm and each coparcener of
HUF are liable for enrolment, see entries 19 & 20 in Schedule–1).
9. Mathadi Kamgar (casual workers) [Cir. 12T dated 3-8-2011].
10. Professionals, covered by Entry 2 of the Schedule, up to one year of standing in the
profession.
11. Armed members of Central Reserve Police Force to whom the Central Reserve Police
Force Act, 1949 applies and the armed members of Border Security Force to whom the
Border Security Force Act, 1968 applies, serving in the State of Maharashtra. (w.e.f. 1-4-
2016)

Therefore these exemptions clearly show that there is forethought to the different types of
employment which have the professional tax being charged on it and even on the actual persons
themselves not just about where they are employed. We see that persons above the age of 65 are
not charged this tax. This follows the principle that a tax should be determined on the ground of
its economic, social and political expediency.

The Tax has now been analysed with regards whether the Canons of Taxation are being followed
or not and therefore it is now sufficient to give concluding remarks.
 14

CONCLUSION

Through the means of this research, I have been able to analyse how the thoughts of two 18th

Century economists have been actually implemented in a modern tax system. Moreover, this tax

is one which is relevant to myself, being my home state and eventual place of work and therefore

this will be applicable on me not too long from now.

The nine various principles as observed are all followed to some level in this Act, but only one is

ignored as previously observed. The Canon of Elasticity cannot be properly implemented in this

Act due to the fact that there is no need for elasticity on the basis of what the tax is actually being

utilized for. Section 30 of the Act states that the amount being collected annually must be used to

contribute to the Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Fund. The elasticity is mostly unnecessary

since the fund is not wholly reliant on this tax for its filling up. Therefore we may ignore the

principle in light of this reason.

The Canon of Equity is one however which I feel needs to be looked into. I suppose the reason for

which we can ignore elasticity is somewhat relevant here too, yet I believe that Equity is one of

the core principles of the Rule of Law and taxes form but a part of the governance of citizens.

Therefore in terms of equity there should be some changes, as have been enumerated above.

Finally I wish to conclude by saying that the Canons of Taxation were originally written down as

principles by which the tax system is based on, however we do not always live in a utopian world,

and for that reason the Canons should be utilized in such a manner that they satisfy what the tax

aims to satisfy.
 15

TABLES AND FIGURES

Page 5 refers to Table 1

Table 1: REVENUE REALISATION FROM INDIRECT TAXES

(Revenue in ₹
Crore)
Financial Revenue Realization From % Share in Total Indirect Taxes
year

Customs Excise Service FTT/ Total Customs Excise Service

duties Duties Tax IATT Duties Duties Tax

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

2000-
01 47542 68526 2613 1133 119814 39.7 57.2 2.2
2001-
02 40268 72555 3302 1193 117318 34.3 61.8 2.8
2002-
03 44852 82310 4122 1324 132608 33.8 62.1 3.1
2003-
04 48629 90774 7891 1314 148608 32.7 61.1 5.3
2004-
05 57611 99125 14200 - 170936 33.7 58.0 8.3
2005-
06 65067 111226 23055 - 199348 32.6 55.8 11.6
2006-
07 86304 117088 37484 - 240876 35.8 48.6 15.6
2007-
08 104119 123611 51301 - 279031 37.3 44.3 18.4
2008-
09 99879 108613 60941 - 269433 37.1 40.3 22.6
2009-10 83324 103621 58422 - 245367 34.0 42.2 23.8
2010-11 135813 138299 71016 - 345128 39.4 40.1 20.6
2011-12 149328 144901 97509 - 391738 38.1 37.0 24.9
2012-13 165346 176535 132601 - 474482 34.8 37.2 27.9
2013-14 169469 172033 154736 - 496238 34.2 34.7 31.2
2014-
15(P) 187856 188238 168063 - 544157 34.5 34.6 30.9
Source : Budget Directorate (CBDT)
FTT: Foreign Travel Tax. IATT: Inland Air Travel Tax. P: Provisional.
Note: FTT/IATT abolished since 09.01.2004.
 16

Page 10 refers to Table 2

Table 2: SCHEDULE I
Schedule of Rates of Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and
Employments.

Sr.No Class of Persons Rate of Tax

1 2 3

1/4/2006 to 30/6/2009

Salary and Wage earners-Such persons whose monthly

1.
salaries or wages :-

(a) do not exceed rupees 2,500; Nil

(b) Exceeds rupees 2,500 but do not exceed rupees 3,500 60 per month

(c) Exceeds rupees 3,500 but do not exceed rupees 5,000 120 per month

(d) Exceeds rupees 5,000 but do not exceed rupees 10,000 175 per month

2,500 per annum to

be paid in
following manner
(a) rupees two
hundred
per month except for
(e) Exceeds Rs 10,000/-
the month of February
(b) rupees three
hundred for the month

of February

1/7/2009 to 30/6/2014

Salary and Wage earners-Such persons whose monthly

1.
salaries or wages :-

(a) Do not exceed rupees 5,000; Nil

(b) Exceeds rupees 5,000 but do not exceed rupees 10,000 ; 175 per month

2,500 per annum to

(c) Exceeds Rs 10,000/- be paid in following
manner
 17

(a) rupees two

hundred per month
except for the month
of February

(b) rupees three

hundred for the month
of February

1/7/2014 to 31/3/2015

Salary and Wage earners-Such persons whose monthly

1.
salaries or wages :-

(a) do not exceed rupees 7,500; Nil

(b) Exceeds rupees 7,500 but do not exceed rupees 10,000 ; 175 per month

2,500 per annum to

be paid in following
manner
(a) rupees two
hundred per month
(c) Exceeds Rs 10,000/- except for the month
of February
(b) rupees three
hundred for the month
of February

1/4/2015 onwards

Salary and Wage earners-Such persons whose monthly

1.
salaries or wages :-

(a) do not exceed rupees 7,500; Nil

(b)(i) In case of male, exceed Rs. 7,500 but do not exceed

175 per month
rupees 10,000;

(b)(ii) In case of female, do not exceed Rs 10,000; Nil

2,500 per annum to

(c) Exceeds Rs 10,000/- be paid in following
manner
 18

(a) rupees two

hundred per month
except for the month
of February

(b) rupees three

hundred for the month
of February

01/04/2017 onward

1A Persons as notified under Section 4B 2,500 per annum

2 1/4/2006 Onwards

(a) Legal Practitioners including Solicitor and Notaries;

(b) Medical Practitioner including Medical Consultants and

Dentists;

(c) Technical and Professional Consultants, including

Architects, Engineers, R.C.C. Consultants, Tax Consultants,
Chartered Accountants, Actuaries and Management Consultants

(d) Chief Agents, Principal Agents, Insurance Agents and

2,500 per annum
Surveyors and Loss Assessors registered or licensed under
the Insurance Act 1938, U.T.I. Agents under U.T.I. Scheme,
N.S.S.Agents under Postal Scheme;

(e) Commission Agents, Dalals and Brokers (other than estate

brokers covered by any other entry elsewhere in this
(f) All types of Contractors (other than building contractors
covered by any other entry elsewhere in this
(g)Diamond dressers and diamond polishers,
having not less than one year's standing in the profession.

(a) Member of Association recognised under the Forward

3 2, 500 per annum
Contracts (Regulation) Act 1952 (74 of 1952)
 19

(b) (i)member of Stock Exchanges recognised under the

Security

2, 500 per annum

Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 (42 of 1956)
(ii)Remisiers recognised by the Stock Exchange;

(a) Building Contractors

4 (b) Estate Agents, Brokers or Plumbers, 2, 500 per annum

having not less than one year's standing in the profession

Directors (other than those nominated by Government) of

Companies
Registered under the Companies Act 1956 (1 of 1956) and
Banking
companies as defined in the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (10 of
1949)

5 2, 500 per annum

Explanation: The term 'Directors' for the purpose of this entry
will not
includes the person who are Directors of the Companies whose
registered offices are situated outside the State of Maharashtra
and
who are not residing in the State of Maharashtra

(a) Bookmakers and Trainers licensed by the Royal Western

India
6 Turf Club Limited; 2, 500 per annum

(b) Jockeys licensed by the said club

Self Employed persons in the Motion Picture Industry,

Theatre,
Orchestra, Television, Modelling or Advertising Industries, as
7 follows :- 2, 500 per annum
(a) Writers, Lyricists, Directors, Actors and Actresses
(excludingJunior Artists), Musicians, Playback Singers,
Cameramen,Recordist, Editors and Still-Photographers;

(b)Junior Artists, Production Managers, Assistant Directors,

1,000 per annum
Assistant Recordists, Assistant Editors and Dancers.
 20

Dealers registered under the Maharashtra Value Added Tax

Act, 2002
(Mah. IX of 2005) or Dealers registered only under the Central
Sales

8 Tax Act, 1956 (74 of 1956), whose annual turnover of sales or 2, 500 per annum
purchases,-
(i) is rupees 25 lakh or less
(ii) exceeds rupees 25 lakh

Occupiers of Factories as defined in the Factories Act, 1948

(63 of
9 2, 500 per annum
1948), who are not covered by entry 8 above.

(1) (A) Employers of establishments as defined in the Bombay

Shops and Establishments Act, 1948 (Bom. LXXIX of 1948)
where their establishments are situated within an area to
10 which the aforesaid Act applied, and who are not covered by
entry 8-Such employers of establishments-
1,000 per annum
(a) Where no employee is employed

(b) Where not exceeding two employees are employed 2, 000 per annum

(c) Where more than two employees are employed 2,500 per annum

(B) Employers of establishments as defined in the Bombay

Shops and Establishments Act, 1948 (Bom. LXXIX of 1948)
where their establishments are not situated within an area to
which the aforesaid Act applied, and who are not covered by
entry 8-Such employers of establishments,-
500 per annum
(a) Where no employee is employed

(b) Where not exceeding two employees are employed 1,000 per annum

(c) Where more than two employees are employed 2,500 per annum

(2)Persons owning / running STD / ISD booths or Cyber

Cafes,
1,000 per annum
other than those owned or run by Government or by physically
handicapped persons

(3) Conductors of Video or Audio Parlours, Video or Audio

Cassette Libraries, Video Game Parlours; 2,500 per annum
(4) Cable Operators, Film Distributors;
 21

(5) Persons owning / running marriage halls, conference halls,

beauty parlours, health centres, pool parlours;
(6) Persons running / conducting coaching classes of all types.

Owners or Lessees of Petrol / Diesels / Oil Pumps and Service

Stations
11 2,500 per annum
/ Garages and Workshops of Automobiles.

Licensed Foreign Liquor Vendors and employers of Residential

Hotels

12 and Theatres as defined in the Bombay Shops and 2,500 per annum
Establishments Act,
1948 (Bom LXXIX of 1948)

Holders of Permits for Transport Vehicles granted under the

Motor
Vehicles Act, 1988 (59 of 1988), which are used or adopted to be
used
for hire or reward, where any such person holds permit or
13 permits
for,-

750 per annum

(a) three wheeler goods vehicles, for each such vehicle;

(b)any taxi, passenger car, for each such vehicle; 1,000 per annum

(c)(i)goods vehicles other than those covered by (a)

(ii)trucks or buses for each such vehicle;
Provided that the total tax payable by a holder under this entry 1,500 per annum
shall

not exceed rupees 2,500 per annum.

Money-lenders licensed under the Bombay Money-lenders Act,

1946
14 2,500 per annum
(Bom XXXI of 1947).

15 Individuals or Institutions conducting Chit Funds 2,500 per annum

Co-operative Societies registered or deemed to be registered

under
16
the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, 1960, and engaged
in any 2,500 per annum
 22

profession, trade or calling,-

(i) State Level Societies
(ii) Co-operative sugar factories and spinning Mills.

(iii) District Level Societies 750 per annum

(iv) Handloom Weavers Co-operative Societies; 500 per annum

(v) All other Co-operative Societies not covered by clauses (i),

(ii),
750 per annum
(iii) and (iv) above.

Banking companies, as defined in the Banking Regulation Act,

1949
17 2,500 per annum
(10 of 1949)

Companies registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of

1956) and
18 2,500 per annum
engaged in any profession, trade or calling.

Each Partner of a firm (whether registered or not under the

Indian
19 2,500 per annum
Partnership Act,1932) engaged in any profession, trade or
calling.

Each Co-parcener (not being a minor) of a Hindu Undivided

Family,
20 2,500 per annum
which is engaged in any profession, trade or calling.

Persons, registered under the Maharashtra Goods and

Services Tax
20A 2,500 per annum
Act, 2017

Persons, other than those mentioned in any of the preceding

entries
who are engaged in any profession, trade calling or employment
and
21 2,500 per annum
in respect of whom a notification is issued under the second
proviso
to sub-section (2) of section 3.