Under the Maharashtra Profession Tax (PT) Act, 1975, the employer is required to deduct Profession Tax (PT) when salary or wages are paid to an employee, as mentioned in Section 4.
In the case of a Full and Final Settlement (FFS) where the employer is paying for multiple months of salary at once (in your example, for 4 months), the key factor is when the payment is actually made.
Here’s the interpretation:
PT Deduction for the Payment Month: Since PT is to be deducted when the salary or wages are paid, if the employer is making a full and final settlement in one lump sum for the 4 months, the PT should be calculated and deducted for the entire amount paid in the settlement month.
Basis of Deduction: The employer needs to compute PT based on the entire settlement amount (which includes the cumulative salary of all 4 months) in the month the payment is made. The total salary paid for the 4 months would be considered for PT deduction in that month. The tax will be computed according to the applicable PT slabs for that particular month of payment.
No Separate Deduction for Each Month: Since the salary for the 4 months is paid in a single month, PT should only be deducted once, for the settlement month, based on the total amount paid. There's no need to deduct PT separately for each of the 4 months unless the employer had paid them individually in separate months.
So, the employer should deduct PT on the total settlement amount in the month when the Full and Final Settlement is made.