West Bengal State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1979
No: 6 Dated: Mar, 31 1979
THE WEST BENGAL STATE TAX ON PROFESSIONS, TRADES, CALLINGS AND EMPLOYMENTS ACT, 1979
West Bengal Act VI of 1979
An Act to provide for the levy and collection of tax on professions, trades, callings and employments for raising additional resources for the benefit of the State and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
Whereas it is expedient to provide for the levy and collection of tax on professions, trades, callings and employments for raising additional resources for the benefit of the State and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto;
It is hereby enacted as follows:-
1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the West Bengal State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings and Employments Act, 1979.
(2) It extends to the whole of West Bengal.
(3) It shall come into force, and shall always be deemed to have come into force, on the 1st April, 1979.
2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, -
(a) "Bureau" means the Bureau of Investigation referred to in section 7 of the West Bengal Sales Tax Act, 1994.
(b) "employee" means a person employed on salary on wages, and includes -
(i) a Government servant receiving pay from the revenues of the Central Government or any State Government or the Railway Fund;
(ii) a person in the service of a body, whether incorporated or not, which is owned or controlled by the Central Government or any State Government, where the body operates in any part of the State, even though its headquarters may be outside the State;
(iii) a person engaged in any employment of an employer, not covered by items (i) and (ii) above;
(c) "employer", in relation to an employee earning any salary or wages on regular basis under him, means the person or the officer who is responsible for disbursement of such salary or wages, and includes the head of the office or any establishment as well as the manager or agent of the employer;
(d) "month" means a month reckoned according to the English calendar;
(e) "notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette;
(f) "person" means any person who is engaged in any profession, trade, calling or employment in West Bengal; and includes a Hindu undivided family, firm, company, corporation or other corporate body, any society, club or association, so engaged, but dues not include any person who earns wages on a casual basis.
(g) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act;
(h) "prescribed authority" means the authority that may be appointed by the State Government by notification for any of the purposes of this Act;
(i) "profession tax" means the tax on professions, trades, callings and employments levied under this Act;
(j) "salary" or "wage" includes pay, dearness allowance and all other remunerations received by any person on regular basis, whether payable in cash or in kind, and also includes perquisites, and profits in lieu of salary, as defined in section 17 of the Income-tax Act, 1961.
(k) "tax" means the profession tax;
(l) "year" means a financial year.
3. Levy and charge of tax. - (1) Subject to the provisions of Article 276 of the Constitution of India, there shall be levied and collected a tax on professions, trades, callings and employments, in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(2) Every person engaged in any profession, trade, calling or employment and falling under one or the other of the classes mentioned in the second column of the Schedule shall be liable to pay to the State Government tax at the rate mentioned against the class of such persons in the third column of the said Schedule:
Provided that entry 23 in the Schedule shall apply only to such classes of persons as may be specified by the State Government by notification from time to time.