Finance, Property, Contracts
(1) A state/local-body law taxing professions, trades, callings, or employment isn't invalid merely for resembling an income tax. (2) The total such tax on any one person, across the state and all local authorities combined, cannot exceed a Parliament-revised cap (currently ₹2,500 per year). (3) This doesn't limit Parliament's separate power to tax income from professions/trades/employment.
This is the constitutional basis for "professional tax" - a small, capped state/local tax on people earning income from a job or profession, kept deliberately modest (currently capped at ₹2,500/year) so it doesn't functionally compete with or duplicate the Union's own income tax, which remains exclusively a central subject.
This is why your salary slip may show a small "Professional Tax" deduction, separate from income tax - it's a modest, capped state-level levy authorised specifically by this article, distinct from and much smaller than central income tax.