HSN Code for Cosmetics and GST Rate: What Is 5% and What Is 18%

Cosmetics and toiletries sit mostly in HSN chapter 33, headings 3303 to 3307, with soap under 3401. From 22 September 2025, a short list of daily-use items pays 5%: talcum and face powder, hair oil, shampoo, toothpaste, shaving cream and toilet soap bars. Most make-up, skin care, perfume and deodorant stays at 18%.

Why are some beauty products 5% and others 18%?

The GST Council, at its 56th meeting, picked out items that most households buy every month and cut their rate. The PIB press release of 3 September 2025 shows talcum and face powder, hair oil, shampoo, toothpaste, dental floss and shaving cream moving from 18% to 5%, and toilet soap bars and toothbrushes too. Tooth powder moved from 12% to 5%. The new rates started on 22 September 2025.

The rate notification of 17 September 2025 then lists everything else in each heading at 18%, with the 5% items written out as exceptions. So for a cosmetics seller the question is simple. Is your product one of the named 5% items? If not, it is 18%. We checked the amendments to that notification made in 2026 that we could read, and the press release on the 57th Council meeting of 8 October 2026. None of them changes these entries.

The rate table for cosmetics and toiletries

Some items close to these headings are taxed apart. Kajal, kumkum, bindi, sindur and alta are written out of the 18% entry for heading 3304. Their rate sits in a different notification, which we did not open, so we do not print a rate for them here. Check it before you list them.

What about tools and accessories?

Beauty tools are not in chapter 33, and many of them pay a different rate from the product they are used with.

• Toothbrushes, under 9603 21 00, are 5%. Make-up brushes and other brushes under 9603 are 18%.
• Combs, hair clips, hairpins and curlers that are not electric, under 9615, are 5%.
• Powder puffs and scent sprays, under 9616, are 18%.
• Electric trimmers and shavers, under 8510, are 18%. Hair dryers and electric curlers, under 8516, are 18%.

A worked example: the gift box

You sell from Lucknow to a buyer in Delhi. A single bottle of shampoo at Rs 300 before tax pays IGST of 5%, which is Rs 15. A single conditioner at Rs 300 pays 18%, which is Rs 54. Sold apart, the two carry Rs 69 of tax.

Now you put them in one gift box with a body lotion and sell the box at a single price of Rs 900. Under the mixed supply rule in section 8 of the CGST Act, goods bundled at one price that are not naturally sold together are taxed at the highest rate among them. The whole box then pays 18%, which is Rs 162. If you had priced each item separately, the tax would have been Rs 15 plus Rs 54 plus Rs 54, which is Rs 123.

That is Rs 39 more tax on one box. On 1,000 festival boxes it is Rs 39,000. Do you have to accept that? Not always. If you want the lower rate on the 5% items, show each item at its own price on the invoice, and take advice on whether your combo is a mixed supply at all.

The mistake sellers usually make

The first mistake is reading the brand, not the product. A "hair oil" that is really a serum, or a "face powder" that is a powder foundation, may not fit the 5% words. The 5% entries are narrow. Match your product to the exact words, and if it sits between two, look at what it is mainly used for.

The second is treating every soap the same. The 5% entry is for toilet soap in the form of bars, cakes or shapes. A liquid soap, a body wash or a face wash pays 18%.

The third is calling a product a medicine to get a lower rate. Heading 3304 covers skin care "other than medicaments". An ayurvedic face cream sold for beauty is usually a cosmetic, not a medicine. If you want to treat a product as a medicament, keep the drug licence and the label claims that support it, and get advice first.

The last is old listings. Hair oil and shampoo listed before 22 September 2025 may still carry 18% in your catalogue. Check every listing in these headings once.

Should you do this yourself?

If you sell a handful of products that are clearly on one side of the line, yes. Write the HSN and rate next to each SKU and check it each quarter. The method for finding a code is in how to find the HSN code for a product. If you run combos, private labels with mixed claims, or herbal products, an hour with a tax expert costs less than one notice.

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