40% Physically Challenged? No profession tax from 01.10.2012

From October 1, persons living with 40 per cent disability in TamilNadu would be exempted from paying profession tax.“The Tamil Nadu Municipal Laws (Third Amendment) Act, 2012, which provides for the exemption will come into force from October1. We have also suitably amended the respective Municipal Corporation Acts of Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore to give effect to this privilege for disabledemployees and traders,” a Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department official said.“At present, differently-abled persons with total disability in oneor both hands or legs, spastics, totally speech-impaired or hearing-impaired persons or totally visually-impaired persons alone are exempted from the payment of profession tax, as per the provisions of the Urban Local Bodies Acts. In the absence of specific definition of disability in the said Acts, all the differently-abled persons are not in a position to avail the said benefit,” an official quoting the TN Municipal Laws (Third Amendment) Bill said.According to the official, the Act had to be amended as the presentlaw was ambiguous on exemptingdifferently abled from paying the half-yearly profession tax. Now, “persons with disability, suffering from not less than 40 per cent of such disability, as certified by a Medical Practitioner in service of the Government not below the rank of Civil Surgeon, shall be exempt from profession tax,” he added.