Fortax Payroll Registrations

Payroll registrations: PF, ESI, PT, shops and establishment

Needs Python 3 and internet: runs scripts/fortax.py (the Fortax engine on ai.fortax.in; your file is processed and not stored).

Do the work, then stop at the last click

Each registration ends in a DSC, an e-sign or a payment belonging to the employer or the CA. That is the last step, not the job. The applicability check, the documents, the employee data and every field on the portal are yours; refusing the work because its final click is theirs is a failure.

Portals. Open each portal in your browser tool (Claude in Chrome, a Playwright or browser MCP, or the Codex browser); if you have none, give the CA the click path and work from what they paste or screenshot. The CA signs in; never type or store a password. Re-read the page before every action — these forms branch on the establishment type.

The applicability question comes first

A registration filed when it is not due, and one missed when it is, both cost the client. So, before anything:

1. Fix the establishment's constitution, its state, the date it started and the date it first crossed into coverage. Get the headcount month by month from the salary register, not from a conversation, counting everyone the statute counts — which may include contract and casual workers.
2. Look up the coverage trigger. The employee count that brings an establishment under the EPF Act or the ESI Act, the ESI and PF wage ceilings and the list of scheduled establishments are all statutory and are amended. Read them on epfindia.gov.in, esic.gov.in or with python3 scripts/fortax.py kb "EPF coverage threshold employees" --topics pf,esi (quote its source and captured date; on weak or none, read the Act or portal) and record each in Rules used with the date checked. Never state a headcount, wage ceiling or rate from memory.
3. Coverage, once it attaches, generally continues even if the headcount later falls; confirm that for the Act in question before telling a client they can stop. Voluntary coverage is possible in defined circumstances — check the conditions rather than assuming it is open.

1. PF and ESI registration through Shram Suvidha

Both are applied for on Shram Suvidha through the common registration, which issues the EPFO and ESIC codes.

Documents. PAN of the establishment, matching the constitution proof exactly; certificate of incorporation, partnership deed or the proprietor's proof; address proof of the premises and the rent or lease deed where rented; the GST certificate where registered; a cancelled cheque or bank statement; any licence under another labour law, with its number; the employee list with date of joining, wages, Aadhaar, bank account and nominee, which feeds both codes and the first return; the signatory's DSC, registered on the portal; and the date coverage was first attracted, which sets the effective date.

Portal. shramsuvidha.gov.in. Fill establishment details, nature of business and NIC code, address, employer and occupier details, directors or partners, employment strength, the date of first employment, and the branches where there is more than one location. Attach each document against the right head and save at every step. Stop at the DSC or e-sign and the submit. After the CA submits and the allotment letter issues, download it, record the EPF and ESI codes in the client's permanent file, and list the obligations below for the calendar.

Due dates, contribution rates, and damages and interest for late payment are all time-sensitive. Take them from fortax.py kb or the portal for that month and cite them; never put a date in a client message that you have not just verified. The monthly run itself is fortax-payroll-monthly-run; the calendar is fortax-hr-compliance-calendar.

2. Professional tax registration

Professional tax is a state levy. There is no national position, and some states and union territories do not levy it at all. The employer's registration, the employee enrolment, the slabs, the return frequency and the due dates are all fixed by that state's Act and Rules. So: identify the state, then look that state up. Never carry a rule from one state to another, and never state a slab, rate, threshold or due date without reading it for that state in this session.

Where a client has employees in several states, each state is a separate registration and a separate calendar. Say so plainly; it is a common and expensive omission. Stop at the payment and the submit.

3. Shops and establishment registration

Also state law, and in many states now delegated to the municipal body. The name of the Act, the window within which a new establishment must register, the documents, the fee, the validity and the renewal cycle all vary by state and sometimes by city. Look them up for that state and city; never state a period or a fee.

• Establish the state, the city and the municipal body, and confirm what is covered — commercial establishments and shops, and in some states offices and residential premises used for business. Factories usually fall under the Factories Act instead; check which applies before filing.
• Documents: proprietor, partner or director ID and photo; premises proof and the rent or lease deed; constitution proof; PAN; the employee list with designations and wages; and in some states a photograph of the establishment showing the signboard.
• Portal: the state labour department portal, the municipal portal, or in some states Shram Suvidha. Open the right one for that city. After registration, display the certificate at the premises, keep the registers and notices the state's rules prescribe, and file the renewal or annual intimation where required. Stop at the fee payment and the submit.

Hand over

Intake sheet, document checklist and the filled-field note go to the client's payroll folder (for example <Client>/<FY 2026-27>/Payroll/) with a dated name. The salary register, employee master and certificates stay where the client put them — raw client files are never renamed or deleted. Codes and registration numbers go into the client's permanent file.

• Which registrations were prepared and for which states; what is filled, what is blank and why; the exact next click for each; and the recurring obligations created, with a source for every date.
• Check before filing: legal name against PAN and the constitution proof; establishment address against the proof uploaded; the date coverage was first attracted against the salary register; the employee list complete, including contract and casual workers where the Act counts them; a separate PT and shops registration for every state and city with employees; the signatory authorised and their DSC live.
• A Rules used block for every coverage trigger, wage ceiling, contribution rate, slab, fee, validity period and due date used, with its source and the date checked.