A simple, rapid, selective and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of palladium is proposed using piperonal thiosemicarbazone (PATS) as a reagent. The reagent forms a 1:2 complex (Pd:Reagent) with palladium. The yellow complex is soluble in 32-40% ethanol and has an absorption maximum at 363 run. Beer's law is obeyed upto 3.85 ppm of palladium and the optimum concentration range is 0.5-2.45 ppm of Pd. The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity are 3. 80 x 10(4) dm(3) mol(-1) cm(-1) and 2.8 x 10(-3) mug cm(-2), respectively. The experimental conditions for complete colour development and the interference from various ions are investigated. The method is used for the determination of palladium in its complexes and synthetic mixtures.