GST 2.0 Rate Changes by Product Category: The Complete Table for Online Sellers

GST 2.0 Rate Changes by Product Category: The Complete Reference Table for Online Sellers

If you sell on Amazon, Flipkart, Meesho, or your own D2C store, one question matters right now: which rate bucket does your product sit in after September 22, 2025? Not a guess — a confirmed answer, because your invoices, your GSTR-1, and your buyer's ability to claim ITC all depend on it.

The GST Council moved over 200 product lines when it abolished the 12% slab. This table covers the categories that matter most to Indian e-commerce sellers, organised by vertical.

Why Your Old HSN Lookup Is Wrong

Most GST rate charts online were last updated before September 2025. When you Google your product's HSN code, you're likely looking at pre-GST 2.0 data. The 12% column still shows up on dozens of government-adjacent sites that haven't been updated.

The safe approach: cross-check your product's HSN code against the official CBIC notification circular dated September 22, 2025 — or use the table below for common e-commerce categories, then verify once on the GST guide for e-commerce sellers.

Apparel, Fashion and Accessories

Product	Old GST Rate	New GST Rate	Direction
Readymade garments up to ₹1,000 per piece	5%	5%	No change
Readymade garments ₹1,001–₹2,500 per piece	12%	5%	⬇ Down
Readymade garments above ₹2,500 per piece	12%	18%	⬆ Up
Footwear up to ₹1,000 per pair	12%	5%	⬇ Down
Footwear ₹1,001–₹2,500 per pair	18%	5%	⬇ Down
Footwear above ₹2,500 per pair	18%	18%	No change
Leather wallets, belts, bags and synthetic handbags (4202, 4203)	—	18%	Verify old rate for your exact product
Knitted fabric, yarn	5–12%	5–18%	Category-specific — verify
Basic cotton socks, innerwear	5%	5%	No change

The price thresholds are per piece (garments) or per pair (footwear), on the sale value, and each item on an invoice is tested separately. Garments and footwear priced up to ₹2,500 now carry 5%, so many sellers pricing between ₹1,000 and ₹2,500 saw their rate fall, not rise. Only pieces above ₹2,500 moved up to 18%. Check each SKU's price band before repricing, and use the GST Rate Finder to confirm.

Electronics and Mobile Accessories

Product	Old GST Rate	New GST Rate	Direction
Smartphones	18%	18%	No change
Mobile cases, covers, screen guards	12%	18%	⬆ Up
Charging cables, adapters, power banks	12%	18%	⬆ Up
Earphones and wired headphones	18%	18%	No change
Bluetooth speakers	18%	18%	No change
LED desk lamps, USB lights	12%	18%	⬆ Up
Laptop bags, sleeve covers	12%	18%	⬆ Up
Smartwatch straps, accessories	12%	18%	⬆ Up

This vertical saw mostly upward moves. Mobile accessories were the largest single category at 12% — the GSTcouncil pushed them to 18% in line with the electronics standard rate. If you sell phone cases or cables, your margin math has changed.

Food, Grocery and Health

Product	Old GST Rate	New GST Rate	Direction
Unbranded staples (rice, dal, wheat)	0%	0%	No change
Branded packaged namkeen, chips, mixtures	12%	5%	⬇ Down
Packaged roasted nuts	12%	5%	⬇ Down
Packaged cereals, muesli, granola	12%	5%	⬇ Down
Flavoured milk, packaged lassi (sealed)	12%	5%	⬇ Down
Branded paneer (sealed pack)	12%	Nil	⬇ Down
Health supplements, protein powder	18%	18%	No change
Sugar confectionery, chocolates	18%	18%	No change
Instant noodles, packaged pasta	12%	5%	⬇ Down

The food vertical moved almost entirely one direction: dry snacks, dairy, cereals, noodles and pasta all landed at 5% or below, not 18% — check your invoicing software isn't still charging 12% or 18% on any of these.

Home, Décor and Lifestyle

Product	Old GST Rate	New GST Rate	Direction
Agarbattis, incense sticks	12%	5%	⬇ Down
Candles, diyas, wax products	12%	5%	⬇ Down
Stationery (pens, notebooks, files)	12%	18%	⬆ Up
Pooja items, idols (non-precious)	0%	0%	No change
Plastic household containers	18%	18%	No change
Ceramic mugs, non-branded crockery (porcelain/china tableware)	12%	5%	⬇ Down
Printed cushion covers, table runners up to ₹2,500 per piece	12%	5%	⬇ Down
Printed cushion covers, table runners above ₹2,500 per piece	12%	18%	⬆ Up
Decorative fairy lights, LED strips	12%	18%	⬆ Up

Home décor is a mixed bag. Agarbattis, diyas and most ceramic tableware — major Meesho and gifting verticals — got cheaper. Made-up textile furnishings follow the same ₹2,500-per-piece price test as apparel: only the pricier pieces moved up. Lighting fixtures and stationery moved up regardless of price.

Beauty, Personal Care and Wellness

Product	Old GST Rate	New GST Rate	Direction
Sunscreen, SPF skincare	18%	18%	No change
Hair oils, branded	18%	18%	No change
Soaps, handwash, sanitisers	18%	18%	No change
Ayurvedic formulations (licensed)	12%	5%	⬇ Down
Herbal / natural face packs (unlicensed)	12%	18%	⬆ Up
Cosmetics, makeup	28%	18%	⬇ Down
Wooden combs, natural haircare tools	0–5%	0–5%	No change

The distinction between licensed Ayurvedic formulations (drop to 5%) and unlicensed natural beauty products (move to 18%) will catch many D2C wellness brands by surprise. Do you have a license under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act? Your rate just diverged significantly based on the answer.

Large Appliances

Product	Old GST Rate	New GST Rate	Direction
Washing machines above 10 kg, front-load	28%	18%	⬇ Down
Air conditioners (specific range)	28%	18%	⬇ Down
Refrigerators above 250L	28%	18%	⬇ Down
Microwaves	18%	18%	No change
Small kitchen appliances (mixer, juicer)	18%	18%	No change

This is one of the clearest wins for both sellers and buyers. Large appliances that dropped from 28% to 18% represent ₹1,000–₹5,000 in GST savings per unit on mid-range products. If you sell in this category, you have a genuine pricing and margin advantage to play with.

Why This Happened: A Festive-Demand Bet, Not Just a Compliance Reform

It's worth understanding the rate cuts as more than a tax-simplification exercise, because the framing changes how you should think about pricing decisions in your own category. Business press coverage of GST 2.0 has centred on it as a demand-side bet timed for the festive season: the government cut rates on a wide range of consumer categories heading into Diwali and the broader October–November shopping window, betting that lower prices would drive enough extra volume to offset the lower per-unit tax take.

Early data suggests the bet paid off, at least in aggregate — GST collections were still up roughly 9.1% year-on-year even after the rate cuts, and coverage attributed part of the festive-season demand bump directly to the rate reduction reaching consumers. That's the government's read on it, not a guarantee for every seller: whether you saw a comparable volume lift depends on whether you actually passed the rate cut through to your selling price, and whether your category was one where customers respond to price the way large-appliance and consumer-durable buyers evidently did.

If your product moved from 28% to 18% or from 12% to 5%, you have a genuine question to answer that's separate from the compliance mechanics above: do you drop your price to capture the same demand-side effect the rate cut was designed to produce, or hold price and take the margin improvement? Neither answer is automatically right — a repricing decision made on volume assumptions from your own category's price sensitivity, not on the general festive-demand narrative, is the one that will actually hold up.

How to Confirm Your Product's Rate

No table is exhaustive — over 200 items moved, and classification depends on HSN code specifics that vary by product formulation, packaging, and branding.

To confirm your exact rate:

1. Identify your 8-digit HSN code — it's on your existing invoices and GSTR-1 filing history
2. Cross-check against CBIC Notification No. 05/2025 – Central Tax (Rate) dated September 22, 2025 — this is the definitive source
3. If your HSN sits at an ambiguous boundary, file a Advance Ruling application with your state GST authority before your next GSTR-1 — it takes 90 days but protects you from classification disputes

If you sell across multiple categories with different rates, make sure your invoicing software separates line items by HSN and rate — lumping them together on a single invoice creates reconciliation problems downstream.

Check your full GST filing obligations after the rate change at the GST return filing page. If you haven't registered yet or need to add new HSN codes to your registration, start at the GST registration page. Use the GST Calculator to double-check the arithmetic on your new rate, and the Marketplace Profit Calculator if you're weighing whether to pass a rate cut through to your selling price or hold it as margin.

The rate change happened once. The compliance obligation — filing with the right rate every month — is ongoing. The sellers who update their systems once and move on will spend no further time on this. Those who don't will answer for it in their GSTR-1 reconciliation every quarter until they do.

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Looking for a complete GST reference? Our GST Guide for E-commerce Sellers covers registration, return filing, TCS, ITC claims, and penalties — all in one place.