Demand for IT professionals is growing in Bengaluru and these are the top hiring companies right now

The demand for professionals is surging in Bengaluru and this was indicated by the taxes IT experts were paying in the IT hub of India. Professional tax dated indicated there was a demand for more employees and Accenture emerged as the top employer that paid Rs 23 crore as professional tax on behalf of its employees in 2015-16, the highest among all firms, a title it held even in 2014-15 according to the Professional tax data.

Professional tax is the tax by the state governments in India. Anyone earning an income from salary or anyone practicing a profession such as chartered accountant, company secretary, lawyer, doctor etc. are required to pay this professional tax. It is a source of revenue for the governmentThe data highlighted the fact that nine out of ten professional companies in Bengaluru are tech companies. Only BSNL, the government-owned telecom player, is an exception.

The top ten tech firms altogether paid Rs 69 crore in 2015-16. In the two financial years before that, they had paid Rs 62 crore and Rs 66 crore in professional taxes.

It is anyway hard to believe that IT firms are the top tax payers anywhere and its surely confirms the importance of Bengaluru as a city.

“Bengaluru is the magnet for the tech industry, and adds to job numbers. I urge Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to read these trends, and address Bengaluru's infrastructure problems so that the city retains its edge." V.Balakrishnan, former director at Infosys told ET.

Accenture, IBM India, TCS, Infosys and Wipro, in that order, were the top five professional tax payers during 2015-16. In 2013-14, Wipro had nudged Infosys to the fifth place. The latter, however, wrested the slot from Wipro in the following year.

The data also showed that these companies have more permanent employees, and fewer jobs are going out of Bengaluru.

"This means jobs are increasing in the city because there is a direct correlation between taxes collected and the permanent jobs. And, also because the monthly tax payout per employee remains constant, Vivek Mallya, a Chartered Accountant and former partner at PwC, told ET.

"The tax collection numbers indicate that the multinational tech companies prefer to deepen their foothold in Bengaluru, rather than experiment with tier-II or tier-III locations. They perhaps find the best cosmopolitan culture as well as a wide talent pool in Bengaluru," Guruprasad Srinivasan, President (People Service) at Quess Corp, told ET.

An employer is required to deduct professional tax only if an employee is in the job for more than 120 days, and earns above Rs 10,000. The government levies a professional tax of Rs 150 per month on those earning above Rs 10,000 per month, and Rs 200 on those earning above Rs 15,000. Those earning below Rs 10,000 are exempt.