Starting a Small Business: Do I Need to Deduct PF and PT for Just 4 Employees?

I want to know a few things related to PF & PT. If we start a new business on a small scale, is it necessary to deduct PF and PT amounts from employees' salaries? What are the procedures for it? The business involves sales and marketing of medical products. Currently, only 4 employees are working. Kindly guide me.

Regards

If you have only 4 employees as of now, EPF is not applicable. However, Professional Tax deduction is required.

Thank you for your reply. Could you please provide me with the eligibility criteria for PF?

Procedure for Obtaining a PTRC No for PT Deduction

Also, can you guide me on the procedure for obtaining a PTRC No for PT Deduction? How many days does it usually take to receive the PTRC No?

If we are not currently deducting the PT amount and plan to start deducting it from April 2015, the new financial year, is that acceptable? Or should we deduct the amount from the date of joining of the employees?

Dear Roshani,

Regardless of the size of the workforce, if you are concerned about your employees, consider outsourcing the management of PF and PT through a payroll process. To ensure proper record-keeping and compliance, it is advisable to engage an HR & Admin person. You can allocate the service charges to the agency for handling these activities. They will take care of the necessary investments and billing on a monthly basis. This approach should help address your concerns. As your workforce grows, you can consider hiring an in-house HR person to manage these tasks directly.

Regards

Managing PF and PT in-house is not a big deal. For PT, you need to refer to local rules set by the Corporation/Municipality/Gram Panchayat. If you are from Mumbai, The Maharashtra State Tax on Professions, Trades, Callings, and Employments Act, 1975 is the one which you are supposed to refer to.

Payroll Processing

Also, how do you process payroll for these employees? Do you use some software or do it manually?

I have been given the responsibilities of ESI, EPF challan, and return, and I don't have an idea of how to fill and submit them to the department online. Kindly assist me along with some attachments regarding this issue because I have only a few days left.

Thanks and Regards

Hi, I wish to start PT deduction from employees' salaries from April onwards. It's a Pune-based company. Can I do it online? I do have the required documents with me. Just need a guideline. It's not the PT return for 2018; it is a new start of deducting PT from April 2019. Please guide.