Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a tax that is applied to most goods and services that are bought and sold in India, including online sales. It is a type of consumption tax, which means that it is paid by the end consumer. GST was introduced in India in 2017 and it replaced many other taxes that were previously in place, such as VAT and service tax.
Online sellers are required to register for GST if their turnover exceeds the threshold limit set by the government. Once registered, the sellers must charge GST on their sales and file regular GST returns. GST is applied at different rates depending on the product or service, and the online seller must ensure that the correct GST rate is applied to each item.
However, certain categories of goods and services are exempt from GST. For example, basic necessities like food, agricultural products, and books are generally exempt from GST. To take advantage of the GST exemption, online sellers must register for the exemption and meet the criteria set by the government.
When a customer buys a product or service from an online seller, they will see the GST included in the price, unless the item is exempt. For example, if they buy a product for 100 rupees and the GST rate is 18%, the GST they pay will be 18 rupees.
Online sellers can claim GST credit on the GST paid on inputs (goods/services) used in the course of their business. This can help to reduce the overall tax burden and increase competitiveness in the market.
Overall, GST is a way for the government to collect tax on the goods and services that are bought and sold in India, including online sales. Certain categories of goods and services are exempt from GST, and online sellers must register for the exemption and meet the criteria set by the government to take advantage of the GST exemption.
Food
- Cereals
- Edible fruits and vegetables (not frozen or processed)
- Edible roots, tubers, fish, and meat (not packaged or processed)
- Tender coconut
- Jaggery
- Unprocessed Tea leaves
- Unroasted Coffee beans
- Seeds
- Ginger
- Salt
- Turmeric
- Betel leaves
- Papad
- Non-branded flour, gram flour, whole flour
- Non-branded natural honey
- Unpacked paneer
- Bread
- Puffed rice
- Eggs
- Dairy products – milk, curd, lassi, buttermilk
- Aquatic feed
- Poultry and cattle feed
- Supplements
Raw materials
- Raw silk, jute, wool
- Silk waste
- Khadi fabric
- Cotton used for khadi yarn
- Raw jute fibre
- Firewood
- Charcoal
- Handloom fabrics
Tools/Instruments
- Hearing aids
- Hand tools like spades and shovel
- Tools for agricultural work
- Handmade musical instruments
- Aids and implements for physically challenged people
Miscellaneous
- Books, maps, newspapers, journals
- Non-judicial stamps, postal items
- Drawing or colouring books for children
- Educational services
- Live animals (except horses)
- Beehives
- Human hair, blood, and semen
- Bangles
- Chalk sticks
- Contraceptives
- Earthen pots
- Items used in pooja like idols, bindi, kumkum
- Kites
- Indian national flag
- Gandhi topi
- Organic manure
- Vaccines
Non-Taxable Books
Product description from Govt released chart
- Printed books, including Braille books and newspaper
- Periodicals & journals
- All goods not specified elsewhere Music, printed or in manuscript, whether or not bound or illustrated, Plans and drawings for architectural, engineering, industrial, commercial, topographical or similar purposes, being originals drawn by hand; hand-written texts; photographic reproductions on sensitized paper and carbon copies of the foregoing
- Newspapers, journals and periodicals, whether or not illustrated or containing advertising material
- Maps and hydrographic or similar charts of all kinds, including atlases, wall maps, topographical plans and globes, printed
Taxable Books
Product description from Govt released chart
- Brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter, whether or not in single sheets
- Exercise book, graph book, & laboratory note book, Braille paper
- All goods not specified elsewhere Music, printed or in manuscript, whether or not bound or illustrated, Plans and drawings for architectural, engineering, industrial, commercial, topographical or similar purposes, being originals drawn by hand; hand-written texts; photographic reproductions on sensitized paper and carbon copies of the foregoing
- Printed or illustrated postcards; printed cards bearing personal greetings, messages or announcements, whether or not illustrated, with or without envelopes or trimmings , Calendars of any kind, printed, including calendar
Grocery & Agriculture Product
Product description from Govt released chart
- Cane jiggery (gur), Palmyra jaggery
- Fresh milk and pasteurized milk, including separated milk, milk and cream, not concentrated nor containing added sugar or other sweetening matter, excluding Ultra High Temperature (UHT)
- Curd
- Lassi
- Butter milk
- Chena or paneer other than put up in unit containers and bearing a registered brand name or enforceable brand name
- Fresh vegetables, roots and tubers other than those in frozen or preserved state
- Fresh fruits other than in frozen state or preserved
- Fish seeds, prawn / shrimp seeds whether or not processed, cured or in frozen state
- 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
- Natural honey, other than put up in unit container and bearing a registered brand name or enforceable brand name
- Birds’ eggs, in shell, fresh, preserved or cooked
- Flour, aata, maida, besan, etc., other than those put up in unit container and bearing a registered brand name or enforceable brand name
- Pappad, by whatever name it is known, except when served for consumption
- Bread (branded or otherwise), except when served for consumption and pizza bread
- Tender coconut water put up in unit container and bearing a registered brand name or enforceable brand name
- Aquatic feed including shrimp feed and prawn feed, poultry feed & cattle feed, including grass, hay & straw, supplement & husk of pulses, concentrates & additives, wheat bran & deoiled cake [other than rice-bran]
- Common salt, by whatever name it is known, including iodized and other fortified salts, sendha namak [rock salt], kala namak salt, all types
- All goods of seed quality, coffee beans, not roasted, unprocessed green leaves of tea, fresh ginger and fresh turmeric other than in processed form
- All goods of seed quality : Soya beans, whether or not broken., Groundnuts, not roasted or otherwise cooked, whether or not shelled or broken
- Linseed, whether or not broken
- Rape or colza seeds, whether or not broken ( chemically processed is taxable)
- Sunflower seeds, whether or not broken.
- Other oil seeds and oleaginous fruits (i.e., Palm nuts and kernels, cotton seeds, Castor oil seeds, Sesamum seeds, Mustard seeds, Saffower (Carthamus tinctorius) seeds, Melon seeds, Poppy seeds, Ajams, Mango kernel, Niger seed, Kokam) whether or notbroken
- Seeds, fruit and spores, of a kind used for sowing
- Hop cones
- Fresh plants and parts of plants (including seeds and fruits), of a kind used primarily in perfumery, in pharmacy or for insecticidal, fungicidal or similar purpose, fresh or chilled
- Locust beans, seaweeds and other algae, sugar beet and sugar cane, fresh or chilled
- Cereal straw and husks, unprepared, whether or not chopped, ground, pressed or in the form of pellets
- Swedes, mangolds, fodder roots,hay, Lucerne (alfalfa), clover, sainfoin, forage kale, lupines, vetches and similar forage products, whether or not in the form of pellets
- Lac and Shellac
- Betel leaves
All other GST Exempted Category
Product Description from Govt released a chart
- Lac and Shellac
- Betel leaves
- Birds’ eggs, in shell, fresh, preserved or cooked
- Aquatic feed including shrimp feed and prawn feed, poultry feed & cattle feed, including grass, hay & straw, supplement & husk of pulses, concentrates & additives, wheat bran & deoiled cake [other than rice-bran]
- Organic manure, other than put up in unit containers and bearing a brand name
- Kumkum, Bindi, Sindur, Alta, Kajal [other than kajal pencil sticks)
- Plastic bangles
- Bangles (except those made from precious metals)
- Condoms and contraceptives
- Wood charcoal (including shell or nut charcoal), whether or not agglomerated
- Gandhi Topi, Khadi yarn
- Jute fibres, raw or processed but not spun
- Idols made of clay
- Agricultural implements manually operated or animal driven
- Hand tools, such as spades, shovels, mattocks, picks, hoes, forks and rakes; axes, bill hooks and similar hewing tools; secateurs and pruners of any kind; scythes, sickles, hay knives, hedge shears, timber wedges and other tools of a kind used in agriculture, horticulture or forestry
- Muddhas made of sarkanda, Brooms or brushes, consisting of twigs or other vegetable materials, bound together, with or without handles
- Indigenous handmade musical instruments (as specified)
- Slate pencils and chalk sticks., Slates
- Indian National Flag (made of textile)
- Linseed, whether or not broken
- Rape or colza seeds, whether or not broken ( chemically processed is taxable)
- Sunflower seeds, whether or not broken.
- Other oil seeds and oleaginous fruits (i.e., Palm nuts and kernels, cotton seeds, Castor oil seeds, Sesamum seeds, Mustard seeds, Saffower (Carthamus tinctorius) seeds, Melon seeds, Poppy seeds, Ajams, Mango kernel, Niger seed, Kokam) whether or notbroken
- Seeds, fruit and spores, of a kind used for sowing
- बीज, फल और बीजाणु, बुवाई के लिए इस्तेमाल किया जाने वाले प्रकारके
- Fresh plants and parts of plants (including seeds and fruits), of a kind used primarily in perfumery, in pharmacy or for insecticidal, fungicidal or similar purpose, fresh or chilled
- Locust beans, seaweeds and other algae, sugar beet and sugar cane, fresh or chilled
- Cereal straw and husks, unprepared, whether or not chopped, ground, pressed or in the form of pellets
- Swedes, mangolds, fodder roots,hay, Lucerne (alfalfa), clover, sainfoin, forage kale, lupines, vetches and similar forage products, whether or not in the form of pellets
Can I sell products online without GST?
Yes. You can sell product online without GST, if your product fall under GST Exception Category.
Which items are exempted from GST?
Basic necessities like food, agricultural products, and books are generally exempt from GST.
Can I sell books on Amazon without GST?
Books are a tax exempted category (most books sellers should not be impacted by GST) so you can start selling your books in a jiffy on Amazon by just providing your PAN details and it’s done.
