GST Rates Item Wise List & PDF

GST legislation has been in place from 1 July 2017. It was the biggest tax-related reform the country has seen, and it has eliminated a lot of cascading taxes that were levied previously. The GST legislation has suffered numerous modifications and attempts to improvement, and due to different recommendations from either states or some industries, the GST council revises every now and then the GST rates.

Just to recap really quickly, for those who are new to GST, it stands for Goods and Services Tax. It’s a tax classified in three types. The first 2 are taxes that are applied in intra-state transactions, and the latter is for inter-state transactions:

CGST - central GST
SGST - state GST
IGST - integrated GST

While the government intended to keep the GST rates close to the original ones, in some cases, the changes in the economy and consumer preferences have been putting pressure on goods in certain tax categories. For example, goods such as notebooks, lenses, spectacles have been reclassified as necessities, and moved from the 18-28% tax bracket to a lower one.

GST Rates Item Wise List PDF - available for download

GST Tax Rates on Goods
The GST legislation has a 4 tier tax structure for all goods. The proposed tax slabs are: 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.
GST Tax Rates on Services
The GST tax rates imposed on services have the same 4 tier tax structure as goods do, 5%, 12%, 18%, 28%. It is notable to mention that the government has exempted healthcare and educational services from attracting GST.

GST Rates Item Wise List for Goods - updated 2020

The following table contains only items that were revised and recently added into the mentioned tax slabs. For an item wise list pdf file that contains all goods and services and their tax slabs, as established in 2017, scroll down.

Tax Rate	Description
0% NIL	Hulled cereal grains like barley, wheat, oat, rye, etc. Bones and horn-cores unworked and waste of these products. Palmyra jaggery All types of salt Dicalcium Phosphate (DCP) of animal feed grade conforming to IS specification No. 5470 :2002 Kajal [other than kajal pencil sticks] Picture books, colouring books or drawing books for children Human hair – dressed, thinned, bleached or otherwise worked Sanitary Napkins Unit container-packed frozen branded vegetables (uncooked/steamed) Vegetables preserved using various techniques including brine and other preservatives that are unsuitable for immediate human consumption. Music Books/manuscripts
5 %	Cashew nuts/cashew nuts in shell Ice and snow Bio gas Insulin Aggarbatti Kites Coir mats, matting and floor covering Pawan Chakki that is Wind-based Atta Chakki Postage or revenue stamps, stamp-postmarks, first-day covers, etc. Numismatic coins Braille paper, braille typewriters, braille watches, hearing aids and other appliances to compensate for a defect or disability Fly-ash blocks Walking sticks Natural cork Marble rubble Accessories/parts for carriages designed for differently-abled individuals
12 %	Preparations of vegetables, fruits, nuts or other parts of plants, including pickle, murabba, chutney, jam, jelly Ketchups, sauces and mustard sauce but excluding curry paste, mayonnaise and salad dressings, mixed condiments and mixed dressings Bari made of pulses including mungodi Menthol and menthol crystals, peppermint, fractionated/de-terpenated mentha oil, dementholised oil, Mentha piperita oil and spearmint oil All diagnostic kits and reagents Plastic beads Exercise books and note books Glasses for corrective spectacles and flint buttons Spoons, forks, ladles, skimmers, cake servers, fish knives, tongs Fixed Speed Diesel Engines Two-way radio (Walkie talkie) used by defence, police and paramilitary forces etc. Intraocular lens Corrective spectacles Playing cards, chess board, carom board and other board games, like ludo, etc. Debagged/roughly squared cork Items manufactured from natural cork Agglomerated cork
18 %	Kajal pencil sticks Dental wax Plastic Tarpaulin School satchels and bags other than of leather or composition leather; toilet cases, Hand bags and shopping bags of artificial plastic material, cotton or jute; Handbags of other materials excluding wicker work or basket work Headgear and parts thereof Precast Concrete Pipes Salt Glazed Stone Ware Pipes Aluminium foil All goods, including hooks and eyes Rear Tractor tyres and rear tractor tyre tubes Rear Tractor wheel rim, tractor centre housing, tractor housing transmission, tractor support front axle Weighing Machinery other than electric or electronic weighing machinery Printers other than multifunction printers Ball bearing, Roller Bearings, Parts & related accessories Transformers Industrial Electronics Electrical Transformer Static Converters (UPS) CCTV including CCTV with video recorders Set top Box for TV Computer monitors not exceeding 17 inches Electrical Filaments or discharge lamps Winding Wires, Coaxial cables and Optical Fiber Perforating or stapling machines (staplers), pencil sharpening machines Baby carriages Instruments for measuring length, for use in the hand (for example, measuring rods and tapes, micrometers, callipers) Bamboo furniture Swimming pools and paddling pools Televisions/Monitors (upto 32 inches) Power banks powered by Lithium-ion batteries Sports goods, games consoles and related items with HS code 9504 All items with HS code 8483 including gear boxes, transmission cranks and pulleys Used or retreaded pneumatic rubber tires
28 %	Caffeinated Beverages

GST Rates Item Wise List for Services - updated 2020

Tax Rate	Description
0 %	Chargeable services offered on Basic Savings Bank Deposit (BSBD) account opened under the PMJDY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana)
5 %	Railways-Transportation of goods, passengers Goods transported in a vessel from outside India Renting a motor cab without fuel cost Transport services in AC contract/stage or radio taxi Transport by air (scheduled)/air travel for purpose of pilgrimage via chartered/non-scheduled flights Tour operator services Leasing of aircrafts Print media ad space Working for printing of newspapers
12 %	Rail transportation of goods in containers from a third party other than Indian Railways Air travel excluding economy Food /drinks at restaurants without AC/heating or liquor license Renting of accommodation for more than Rs.1000 and less than Rs.2500 per day Chit fund services by foremen Construction of building for the purpose of sale IP rights on a temporary basis Movie Tickets less than or equal to Rs. 100
18 %	Food/drinks at restaurants with liquor license Food /drinks at restaurants with AC/heating Outdoor catering Renting for accommodation for more than Rs.2500 but less than Rs.5000 per day Supply of food, shamiyana, and party arrangement Circus, Indian classical, folk, theatre, drama Supply of works contract Movie Tickets over Rs. 100
28 %	Entertainment events-amusement facility, water parks, theme parks, joy rides, merry-go-round, race course, go-carting, casinos, ballet, sporting events like IPL Race club services Gambling Food/drinks at AC 5-star hotels (above Rs.7500/night) Accommodation in 5-star hotels or above (above Rs.7500/night)

GST Rates Item Wise List PDF can be downloaded from here

Latest Update!

A full list of items and their tax rates can be found

On the 37th meeting, the GST Council decided not to cut rates on Automobiles, but instead decided to reduce the compensation cess from 15% to lower rates for certain vehicles. Certain rates rationalisation was to benefit the Tourism and FMCG sectors.

The 37th meeting of the GST council took place in Goa, on the 20th of September 2019. The meeting was held to take into revision and modify a few GST rates, targeting to cut the rate for some common items, while 2 product categories suffered a tax rate increase. The GST Rate Revision is effective from the 1st of October 2019.

Item	Current Rate	New Rate
Plates and cups made of flowers, leaves and bark	5%	Nil
Caffeinated Beverages	18%	28%+12% cess
Supplies of Railways wagons & coaches (without refund of accumulated ITC)	5%	12%
Outdoor Catering (without ITC)	18%	5%
Diamond Job work	5%	1.50%
Other Job work	18%	12%
Hotels (Room Tariff of Rs.7501 or above)	28%	18%
Hotels (Room Tariff from Rs 1,001 to Rs 7,500)	18%	12%
Woven/ Non-woven Polyethylene Packaging bags	18%	12%
Marine fuel	18%	5%
Almond Milk		18%
Slide fasteners	18%	12%
Wet grinders (consisting of stone as a grinder)	12%	5%
Dried Tamarind	5%	Nil
Semi-precious stones- cut & polished	3%	0.25%
Specified goods for petroleum operation under HELP*	Applicable Rate	5%

*Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy

Item	Current Rate	New Rate
Cess on Petrol Motor Vehicles (Capacity of 10-13 passengers)	15%	1%
Cess on Diesel Motor Vehicles (Capacity of 10-13 passengers)	15%	3%

GST Exemption is now available for:

Supplies to FIFA- specified persons for the Under-17 Women’s Football World Cup in India
Supply to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for specified projects in India
Imports of certain defence goods not made indigenously (up to 2024)
Supply of silver/platinum by specified agencies (Diamond India Ltd) for export
Import of Silver or Platinum by specified agencies (Diamond India Ltd)

For a full list of all the meetings and their decision, please visit the government website All GST Council Meetings.

Knowing all of this is a good start to keep track of everything regarding GST rates, but you still need proper billing and GSTR returns. That’s why we recommend using our GST billing software.

GST Explained

What is GST bill?

GST, short for Goods and Services tax, is a new tax that will be imposed on the sale and purchase of goods and services in India. GST is meant to replace all taxes in India with a single unified tax applied to value addition instead of the total value of the product at each stage in the supply chain.

This method provides credit for the input tax paid on the purchase of goods and services, which can be offset with the tax to be paid on the supply of goods and services. As a result, this reduces the overall manufacturing cost, with the end customer paying less.

Which goods and services are exempted from GST?

With certain current taxes remaining, the following goods and services will be fully or partially exempted from the GST

What are the GST benefits for your business?

Free movement of goods: Business owners will be able to sell more in other states without having to worry about interstate transaction costs. With GST, the entry tax will be eliminated, which will save time and money spent.

What taxes does GST replace?

Currently, there are many indirect taxes that both the state and central governments are collecting on every purchase and sale.

How will GST work in practice?

The GST will follow a similar model with the one before it

What is the proposed GST rate?

GST will have a 4-tier tax structure

Why is GST being introduced in India?

One of the main reasons for GST being introduced in India is the tax burden that falls both on companies and consumers. With the current tax system, there are multiple taxes added at each stage of the supply chain, without taking credit for taxes paid at previous stages. As a result, the end cost of the product does not clearly show the actual cost of the product and how much tax was applied. This cascading structure is too complex and inefficient.

How will Inter-state transactions work in GST?

For inter-state transactions, the Centre will levy Integrated GST (IGST), which is equal to the average of the CGST and SGST rates. After applying IGST, CGST and SGST credits received from purchases, the seller will then pay the remaining IGST on the added value.

What is the exemption limit in the GST?

Businesses with turnover revenue of 20 lakhs and above will have to register and file for GST returns, with a threshold of 10 lakhs for businesses in the north east and hill states.

How will imports be handled in GST?

A combination of CGST and SGST will be applied to the import of goods and services that come to India. Tax benefits and credits will be given to the state where the imported goods and services are consumed.