The Goods and Services Tax (GST) system which was launched in India in July 2017 is an indirect tax system which covers a range of goods and services being supplied within and from India. GST is a consumption-based tax and is applicable to the supply of goods/services at each stage of the supply chain.
Paper products, being a very prominent industry of India, also comes under the coverage of GST. In this article, we will discuss GST rates on the supply of different kinds of paper products, including paper pulp and paperboard.
GST on Different Types of Paper Products
Most of the paper products being supplied in India fall under chapter 48 of the GST HSN Code. The HSN code of a particular product determines its GST rates for paper products.
GST has five different tax slabs, namely 0% or Nil, 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%, and different paper products fall under different tax slab, as follows:
Nil (0%) GST Rate
The following paper products fall into this category:
Judicial stamp papers, Non-judicial stamps, Court fee stamps sold only by the Government Treasuries or Government-authorized Vendors, Postal items such as envelopes, Postcards, etc. which are sold by Government, Cheques books & loose cheques, rupee notes sold to the Reserve Bank of India.
5% GST Rate
GST on the following paper items is levied at 5% rate.
Newsprint rolls and Newsprint sheets
Kites (revised from earlier 12%)
Paper pulp moulded trays (revised from earlier 12%)
Articles made of paper mache (revised from earlier 12%)
12% GST Rate
The following paper goods fall into 12% GST rate category:
Uncoated paper and paperboard, greaseproof paper, uncoated kraft paper, composite paper, glassine paper, etc., Aseptic packaging paper, paper cartons, boxes, corrugated paper boxes or paper board box, boxes, wallets, pouches, writing compendiums, etc. which are made of paper or paperboard and contain paper stationery such as writing blocks, exercise book, laboratory notebook, graph book, etc., braille paper, asphaltic roofing sheets, paper splints on matches.
Exercise books and notebooks (revised from earlier 18%)
Also Read: GST on Books, Brochures, Newspapers, Printing and Publishing Industry
18% GST Rate
The following articles made of paper or paper board are subject to 18% GST rate:
Toilet or facial tissue, towels or napkins and other similar paper items used for household/sanitary purposes, vegetable parchment, cellulose wadding and webs of cellulose fibres, tracing papers, glazed transparent or translucent papers (both rolls and sheets), carbon paper, self-copy paper and other copy papers (including coated or impregnated paper for duplicator stencils or offset plates), paper, paperboard, webs of cellulose fibres and cellulose wadding (in rolls or rectangular/square sheets), filter blocks, paper pulp slabs and plates, cigarette paper (in any form), blank in Tariff, duplicator stencils and offset plates made of paper, envelopes, plain postcards, letter cards, correspondence cards made of paper/paperboard, paper handkerchiefs, towels, table cloths, cleansing tissues, serviettes, baby napkins, tampons, sanitary or hospital articles, bed sheets, apparel and clothing products made of paper or paper pulp, registers, account books, order books, note books, receipt books, memorandum pads, letter pads, diaries and other paper articles, blotting-pads, folders, file covers, binders (loose-leaf or other), manifold business forms, book covers, interleaved carbon sets and other stationary articles made of paper or paperboard, bobbins, spools and similar products made of paper, paper pulp or paperboard, paper or paperboard labels of all kinds.
18% GST rates for paper products like Wall paper and similar wall coverings, transparent window papers (revised from earlier 28%)
