Profession Tax is not a tax on salary alone but it is payable by any person who receives a revenue. It is payable by any one who receives a revenue irrespective of whether the person paying it has any legal relationship or not. A doctor or an advocate needs to pay profession tax but there is no legal relationship the person who pays it, ie, the client. Therefore, it is not the source which is relevant but the place of earning is relevant.
The profession tax is a subject of the state and local administration and they have right to collect it provided the income or revenue is earned by any person by performing a 'profession' within the local boundaries. Certainly, the principal employer's liability towards payment of profession tax of the workmen engaged through a contractor will come into being only when the contractor fails to pay it to the local administration. But at the same time, the principal employer can not escape by saying that he has legal relationship only with the contractor. Like his responsibilities under the other Acts, viz, EPF, ESI or Minimum Wages, he has to ensure that the contractor has paid the profession tax in time.
Regards,
Madhu.T.K