While some goods attract 5% GST, some others attract 12%, 18%, 28%. Some goods, however, are exempt from GST. All products under GST are listed under the Harmonised System of Nomenclature, or HSN code. Each of the products has a HSN code number to ensure that the invoicing practices of GST are in sync with global standards of product nomenclature. The following is a list of goods exempted under GST and the HSN chapter under which they are covered:
Chapter 1: Live Animals
All goods other than live horses
0101: Live asses, hinnies and mules
0102: Live bovine animals
0103: Live swine
0104: Live goats and sheep
0105: Live poultry, like fowls of the species Gallus domesticus, geese, ducks, guinea fowls and turkeys
0106: Other live animals like birds, mammals, insects
Chapter 2: Meat and Edible Meat Offal
All goods other than in frozen state and stored in unit containers
0201: Meat of bovine animals, chilled or fresh
0203: Meat of swine, chilled or fresh
0204 Meat of goats or sheep, chilled or fresh
0205: Meat of horses, mules, asses, or hinnies, chilled or fresh
0206: Edible offal of bovine animals, goats, swine, asses, sheep, horses, hinnies or mules, chilled or fresh
0207: Meat and edible offal, of the poultry of heading HSN code number 0105, chilled or fresh
0208: Other meat and edible meat offal, chilled or fresh
0209: Pig fat, free of lean meat, and poultry fat, not rendered or otherwise extracted, chilled or fresh
Chapter 3: Dairy Produce, Natural Honey, Bird’s Eggs, Edible Products of Animal Origin, Not Specified Elsewhere
Fish, molluscs, crustaceans and other aquatic invertebrates (prawn / shrimp seeds / fish seeds, whether or not processed, cured or in frozen state, and all goods, other than processed, cured or in frozen state
0301: Live fish
0302: Fish, chilled or fresh, not inclusive of fish fillets and other fish meat of heading HSN code number 0304
0304: Fish fillets and other fish meat, whether or not minced, chilled or fresh
0306: Crustaceans, whether in shell or not, live, chilled or fresh; crustaceans, in shell, cooked by steaming or by boiling in water, chilled
0307: Molluscs, whether in shell or not, live, fresh, chilled; aquatic invertebrates other than crustaceans and molluscs, live, fresh, chilled
0308: Aquatic invertebrates other than crustaceans and molluscs, live, chilled or fresh
Chapter 4: Dairy Produce, Natural Honey, Bird’s Eggs, Edible Products of Animal Origin, Not Specified Elsewhere
0401: Fresh milk and pasteurised milk, inclusive of separated milk, milk and cream, not concentrated nor containing added sugar or other sweetening matter, not including Ultra High Temperature (UHT) milk
0403: Curd, lassi, butter milk
0407: Eggs Birds’ eggs, in shell, fresh, preserved or cooked
0406: Chena or paneer, other than put up in unit containers and bearing a registered brand name
0409: Natural honey, other than put up in unit container and bearing a registered brand name
Chapter 5: Products of Animal Origin, Not Elsewhere Included or Specified
0501: Human hair, unworked, whether or not washed or scoured; waste of human hair
0511: Semen inclusive of frozen semen
Chapter 6: Live Trees and Other Plants, Roots, Bulbs, etc.; Ornamental Foliage and Cut Flowers
All goods under this chapter
Chapter 7: Edible Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
Fresh vegetables, roots and tubers other than those in frozen or preserved state
0701: Potatoes, chilled or fresh
0702: Tomatoes, chilled or fresh
0703: Onions, garlic, shallots, leeks and other alliaceous vegetables, chilled or fresh
0704: Cabbages, kale, kohlrabi, cauliflowers and similar edible brassicas, chilled or fresh
0705: Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) and chicory (Cichorium spp.), chilled or fresh
0706: Turnips, salsify, carrots, salad beetroot, radishes, celeriac and similar edible roots, chilled or fresh
0707: Gherkins and cucumbers, chilled or fresh
0708: Leguminous vegetables, unshelled or shelled, chilled or fresh
0709: Other vegetables, chilled or fresh
0712: Dried vegetables, sliced, broken, cut, whole or in powder, but not further prepared
0713: Dried leguminous vegetables, shelled, whether or not split or skinned, apart from those stored in unit container and having a registered brand name
0714: Salep, manioc, Jerusalem Artichokes, arrowroot, sweet potatoes and similar tubers and roots with high insulin or starch content, chilled or fresh; sago pith0
Chapter 8: Edible Fruit and Nuts; Peel of Citrus Fruit or Melons
Fresh fruits other than in frozen state or preserved
0801: Coconuts, dried or fresh, whether or not peeled or shelled
0802: Other nuts, fresh such as almonds, hazelnuts or filberts (Coryius spp.), walnuts, chestnuts (Castanea spp.), pistachios, macadamia nuts, kola nuts (Cola spp.), areca nuts
0803: Bananas, inclusive of plantains, fresh or dried
0804: Dates, figs, pineapples, avocados, guavas, mangoes and mangosteens, fresh
0805: Citrus fruit, like, mandarins, oranges, inclusive of satsumas and tangerines; wilkings, clementines and similar citrus hybrids, grapefruit, inclusive of lemons, pomelos, (citrus limonum, citrus limon) and limes (citrus latofolia, citrus aurantifolia), fresh
0806: Grapes, fresh
0807: Melons (inclusive of watermelons) and papaws (papayas), fresh
0808: Apples, quinces and pears, fresh
0809: Apricots, peaches, cherries (inclusive of nectarines), sloes and plums, fresh
0810: Other fruit such as mulberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and loganberries, red, black or white currants and cranberries, gooseberries, bilberries and other fruits of the genus vaccinium, durians, kiwi fruit, pomegranates, persimmons, sapota (chico), tamarind, custard-apple (ata), litchi, bore, fresh
0814: Peel of citrus fruit or melons (inclusive of watermelons), fresh
Chapter 9: Coffee, tea, mate and spices
All goods of seed quality
0901: Coffee beans, not roasted
0902: Unprocessed green leaves of tea
0910: Fresh ginger and fresh turmeric, other than in processed form
Chapter 10: Cereals
All goods, other than those put up in unit container and bearing a registered brand name
1001: Wheat and meslin
1002: Rye
1003: Barley
1004: Oats
1005: Maize (corn)
1006: Rice
1007: Grain sorghum
1008: Buckwheat, canary and millet seed; other cereals such as jawar, bajra, ragi
Chapter 11: Products of Milling Industry; Starches; Wheat Gluten; Malt; Inulin
1101, 1102, 1105, 1106 (Flour): Aata, maida, besan etc., apart from those stored in unit container and having a registered brand name
1101: Wheat or meslin flour
1102: Cereal flours other than of wheat or meslin i.e. rye flour, maize (corn) flour, etc.
1103: Cereal groats, meal and pellets, apart from those stored in unit container and having a registered brand name
1105: Flour of potatoes
1106: Flour of the dried leguminous vegetables of heading HSN code number 0713 (pulses), of sago or of roots or tubers of heading HSN code number 0714 or of the products of Chapter 8 i.e. of mango flour, tamarind, singoda, etc.
Chapter 12: Oil Seeds and Oleaginous Fruits, Fruits and Seeds; Straw and Fodder; Medicinal or Industrial Plants; Miscellaneous Grains
All goods of seed quality
1201: Soya beans, whether or not broken
1202: Groundnuts, not roasted or otherwise cooked, whether or not shelled or broken
1204: Linseed, whether or not broken
1205: Rape or colza seeds, whether or not broken
1206: Sunflower seeds, whether or not broken
1207: Other oil seeds and oleaginous fruits (i.e. palm nuts and kernels, castor oil seeds, cotton seeds, sesamum seeds, saffower (Carthamus tinctorius) seeds, mustard seeds, melon seeds, ajams, mango kernel, poppy seeds, Niger seed, kokam, whether or not broken.
1209: Seeds, fruit and spores, of a kind used for sowing
1210: Hop cones, fresh
1211: Plants and parts of plants (inclusive of seeds and fruits), of a kind used primarily in perfumery, in pharmacy or for insecticidal, fungicidal or similar purpose, chilled or fresh
1212: Locust beans, seaweeds and other algae, sugar beet and sugar cane, chilled or fresh
1213: Cereal straw and husks, unprepared, whether or not chopped, ground, pressed or in the form of pellets
1214: Swedes, fodder roots, mangolds, hay, clover, forage kale, lucerne (alfalfa), lupines, sainfoin, vetches and similar forage products, whether or not in the form of pellets
Chapter 13: Lac, Resins, Gums and Other Vegetable Extracts and Saps
1301: Lac and shellac
Chapter 14: Vegetable Plaiting Materials; Vegetable Products, Not Elsewhere Included or Specified
1404: Betel leaves
Chapter 17: Sugar and Sugar Confectionery
1701: Cane jiggery
Chapter 19: Preparations of Cereals, Starch, Flour or Milk; Pastry cooks’ Products
1904: Puffed rice, commonly known as Muri, flattened or beaten rice, commonly known as chira, parched rice, commonly known as khoi, parched paddy or rice coated with sugar or gur, commonly known as Murki
1905: Pappad, by whatever name it is known, except when served for consumption, and bread (branded or otherwise), except when served for consumption and pizza bread
Chapter 21: Miscellaneous Edible Preparations
2106: Prasadam supplied by places of worship, such as temples, churches, dargahs, mosques, gurudwaras, etc.
Chapter 22: Beverages, Spirit and Vinegar
2201: Water, other than aerated, mineral, purified, distilled, medicinal, ionic, battery, de-mineralized and water sold in sealed container
2201: Non-alcoholic Toddy, Neera
2202: Tender coconut water stored in unit container and having a registered brand name
Chapter 23: Residues and Waste from the Food Industries; Prepared Animal Fodder
2302, 2304, 2305, 2306, 2309: Aquatic feed, cattle feed and poultry feed, inclusive of straw, grass and hay, husk and supplement of pulses, additives and concentrates, wheat bran and de-oiled cake
Chapter 25: Salt; Sulphur; Stone and Earths; Plastering Materials, Cement and Lime
2501: Common salt, inclusive of iodized and other fortified salts, kala namak, sendha namak [rock salt]
Chapter 30: Pharmaceutical Products
3002: Human blood and its components
3006: All kinds of contraceptives
Chapter 31: Fertilizers
Organic manure, apart from that stored in unit containers and having a brand name
Chapter 33: Essential Oils and Resinoids Perfumery, Toilet or Cosmetic Preparations
3304: Kumkum, sindur, bindi, alta
Chapter 38: Miscellaneous Chemical Products
Municipal waste, clinical waste, sewage sludge
Chapter 39: Plastics and Articles Thereof
Plastic bangles
Chapter 40: Rubber and Articles Thereof
4014: Condoms and Contraceptives
Chapter 44: Wood and Articles Thereof, Wood Charcoal
4401: Fuel wood or firewood
4402: Wood charcoal, inclusive of nut or shell charcoal, whether or not agglomerated
Chapter 48: Paper and Paperboard; Articles of Paper Pulp, of Paper or of Paperboard
4802, 4817: Judicial, non-judicial stamp papers, court fee stamps when sold by the Government Treasuries or vendors authorized by the Government, postal items, such as postcard, envelope, etc., sold by the Government, rupee notes when sold to the Reserve Bank of India & cheques, loose or in book form
Chapter 49: Printed Books, Newspapers, Pictures and Other Products of the Printing Industry, Typescripts, Manuscripts and Plans
4901: Printed books, inclusive of braille books
4902: Newspaper, periodicals and journals, whether or not illustrated or containing advertising material
4905: Maps and hydrographic or similar charts of all types, inclusive of atlases, globes, topographical plans and wall maps, printed
Chapter 50: Silk
5001: Silkworm laying, cocoon
5002: Raw silk
5003: Silk waste
Chapter 51: Wool, Coarse or Fine Animal Hair, Horse Hair Yarn and Woven Fabric
5101: Wool, not combed or carded
5102: Coarse or fine animal hair, not combed or carded
5103: Waste of wool or of coarse or fine animal hair
Chapter 52: Cotton
Khadi yarn, Gandhi topi
Chapter 53: Other Vegetable Textile Fibres; Paper Yarn, Woven Fabrics of Paper Yarns
5303: Jute fibres, processed or raw but not spun
5305: Coconut, coir fibre
Chapter 63: Other Made Up Textile Articles, Sets, Worn Textile Articles and Worn Clothing; Rags
Indian National Flag
Chapter 69: Ceramic Products
6912: Clay lamps and earthen pots
Chapter 70: Glass and Glassware
7018: Bangles, apart from those made from precious metals
Chapter 82: Tools, Cutlery, Forks and Spoons of Base Metal, Implements; Parts Thereof of Base Metal
8201: Agricultural implements, animal-driven or manually-operated, and hand tools, like shovels, hoes, spades, picks, mattocks, rakes and forks; bill hooks, axes and similar hewing tools; pruners and secateurs of any type; timber wedges, scythes, hay knives, sickles, hedge shears, and other tools of a kind used in forestry, agriculture or horticulture
Chapter 84: Boilers, Nuclear Reactors, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts Thereof
Handloom
Chapter 88: Aircraft; Spacecraft and Parts Thereof
8802: Spacecraft, inclusive of satellites and suborbital and spacecraft launch vehicles
8803: Parts of Goods of Heading HSN Code Number 8801
Chapter 90: Photographic, Cinematographic, Optical, Checking, Measuring, Precision, Surgical or Medical Apparatus and Instruments; Parts and Accessories Thereof
9021: Hearing Aids
Chapter 92: Musical Instruments; Accessories and Parts of Such Articles
Indigenous handmade musical instruments
Chapter 96: Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles
9609: Slate pencils and chalk sticks
9610: Slates
All of the aforementioned goods are exempt from GST.