What is the GST rate for chemical manufacturers and dealers?
GST for chemical manufacturers and dealers: most goods and services here are taxed at 18%. The table gives each item's HSN or SAC code, the GST rate entries in force on 1 November 2026, and the rate before 22 September 2025 where GST 2.0 changed it. Open an item for every entry, its conditions and the CBIC notification.
In the free BooksOn HSN app, pick your business (kirana, medical store, hardware, engineering unit…) to see the HSN code and GST rate of the items it usually sells, makes or buys. Works offline, no ads.
Items, codes and GST rates
Choosing the right code
- Most chemicals are 18%: one entry covers the inorganic chemicals of Chapter 28 and one the organic chemicals of Chapter 29, other than the goods named elsewhere.
- Since 22 September 2025, sulphuric acid, nitric acid and ammonia are 5% (they were 18%); fertiliser-grade phosphoric acid, medical oxygen and medicinal hydrogen peroxide are 5% too.
- A chemical made up for a use is classified by that use: dyes 3204, surfactants and detergent bases 3402, insecticides 3808, paints 3208 and 3209, glues 3506, other chemical preparations 3824. A separate chemically defined compound stays in Chapter 28 or 29 unless the tariff sends it elsewhere: synthetic organic dyes are 3204 even when chemically defined, urea is in Chapter 31 and ethyl alcohol in 2207 (Note 2 to Chapter 29), and a compound put up in measured doses or for retail sale as a medicine, insecticide or glue goes to 3004, 3808 or 3506 (Note 2 to Section VI).
- Processing a customer's chemicals is job work, SAC 9988: 18% since 22 September 2025 (it was 12% for a registered customer, 18% for an unregistered one); for a registered customer's medicines of Chapter 30 it is 5%.
Other GST rules for these items
- If a transport company carries goods by road for a factory, society, co-operative society, company, firm or GST-registered business, the customer pays the GST. This does not apply if the transporter opted to charge GST itself (conditions apply). (Notification 8/2023-CT(R), entry 1)
Billing tips
- Put at least 4 digits of the HSN code on B2B invoices if your aggregate turnover in the previous year is up to ₹5 crore, 6 digits above that (Notification 78/2020-Central Tax).
- Where an item shows two rates, the rate depends on the exact code or a condition (for example packed and labelled, or a price limit) — check the item page.
- Charge CGST + SGST within your state and IGST to another state. Work out the tax with the GST calculator.
- For any other item, use the GST Rate Finder; for an old invoice, the rate on its date is in the free BooksOn HSN app.
Guides for other trades
- GST rates by business
- Kirana and grocery shops
- Supermarkets and department stores
- Hardware and building material shops
- Electrical shops
- Construction contractors and builders
- Real estate developers and property dealers
- Petrol bunks and fuel stations
- Textile, garment and footwear shops
- Electronics and mobile shops
- Restaurants, hotels and caterers
- Sweet shops and namkeen stalls
- Bakeries and cake shops
- Fruit and vegetable shops
- Dairy and milk shops
- Meat, chicken and fish shops
- Medical stores and pharmacies
- Stationery and book shops
- Auto parts shops and garages
- Salons and beauty parlours
- Jewellery shops
- Furniture and home furnishing shops
- Fertiliser, seed and pesticide shops
- Transporters and logistics firms
- CAs, lawyers, consultants and IT firms
- Engineering and fabrication units
- Tool rooms and tool dealers
- Auto and two-wheeler component makers
- Plastic moulding units
- Electrical equipment makers
- Electronics manufacturers
- Pharmaceutical manufacturers
- GST rate changes 2026
- GST rate changes 2025: old and new rates
Rates from the BooksOn HSN dataset (version 9), compiled from CBIC notifications, checked on 1 November 2026. Reference only: confirm the entry in the notification before invoicing.
