The Commissioner of State Tax, Maharashtra, has issued Trade Circular No. 01 T of 2026 dated 13th March 2026, providing relaxation in certain compliance requirements under the Maharashtra Tax on Trade, Callings and Profession Act. The circular has been issued in reference to the Maharashtra Government, Finance Department Notification dated 28th February 2026.
The Maharashtra GST Department has recently migrated to a new IT system for the implementation of the MVAT Act, CST Act and allied Acts, including the Profession Tax Act. All compliance facilities such as registration, tax payment and return filing have been made available through the new mahagst.gov.in portal. However, due to technical issues faced by taxpayers while accessing the portal for compliance during March 2026, several representations were received from trade bodies and professionals seeking an extension of due dates for payment of tax and filing of returns under the Profession Tax Act.
Considering the difficulties faced by taxpayers and in order to reduce the user load on the portal, the Department has decided that while the tax payment facility on the portal will continue, other online functionalities under the Profession Tax Act, including registration and filing of returns, have been temporarily disabled. An alternate facility to pay Profession Tax using PAN has also been enabled to ensure that taxpayers can discharge their tax liability within the prescribed time limit.
Under the guidelines issued, the facility to fetch details using the PTEC number has been disabled. Accordingly, PTEC taxpayers—whether already registered or intending to register—are advised to pay their due tax using their PAN, and any payment made through PAN within the due date will be treated as a valid discharge of tax liability. PTRC taxpayers holding a valid PTRC registration number may continue to make payments by mentioning their PTRC number in the challan along with the correct return period.
Further, taxpayers who are unable to complete registration due to system issues are advised to make online payment using their PAN and subsequently apply for registration on or before 30 April 2026. Such payments will be treated as valid discharge of tax liability as if the taxpayer had been registered from the date of issuance of the circular.
The circular clarifies that this relaxation is temporary and applicable only for registration and return compliance under the Profession Tax Act due in March 2026. The benefit will apply to PTRC taxpayers paying tax on or before 15 March 2026 and PTEC taxpayers paying tax on or before 31 March 2026. The circular has been issued as a clarification to address the difficulties faced by taxpayers and is not intended to alter the interpretation of the law.
The Trade Notice can be accessed at: https://a2ztaxcorp.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Maharashtra-TRADE-CIRCULAR.pdf
