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Use the GST Portal’s Search HSN Code service to find a likely goods or services classification, then verify that classification and its current treatment against the relevant CBIC rate schedule and notifications. A search result is a starting point, not a final tax decision: the precise supply, applicable conditions and transaction facts can change the answer.
How to check the GST treatment step by step
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Describe exactly what is being supplied
For a product, note its material, function, form and packaging. For a service, describe the work actually performed rather than relying only on a marketing name. Include transaction details that may matter, such as whether goods and services are supplied together.
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Search the GST Portal
Go to Home > Services > User services > Search HSN Code. The GSTN advisory says this tool is available before or after login and can search goods and services by code or description. If you do not know the code, choose Description and try the product or service’s common trade description; partial descriptions are supported.
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Check that the classification fits
Read the full HSN entry for goods or SAC entry for services and compare its technical description with what is actually supplied. Search terms can return plausible alternatives. If more than one entry seems to fit, compare the wording and relevant characteristics rather than choosing the closest-sounding label. The GST Portal’s registration guidance also describes looking up goods and services codes by name or code.
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Verify the current rate or exemption
Find the matching entry in CBIC’s current GST Goods and Services Rates material, then check the relevant rate or exemption notifications and any conditions attached to the entry. CBIC’s notification index includes amendments and corrigenda, so an old rate chart or summary may not show the treatment in force for the transaction date.
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Apply the rules to the actual transaction
Check whether the activity is a supply under the applicable GST law and whether it is intra-State or inter-State. The CGST Act also contains rules for composite and mixed supplies; where goods and services are bundled, those rules or a notification condition may affect the result. A product name or HSN/SAC match alone cannot settle these transaction-specific questions.
What “subject to GST” can mean
Do not use “GST-free” as if it were one legal category. GST Portal outward-supply reporting distinguishes nil-rated, exempted and non-GST supplies. These labels should not be treated as interchangeable: check which category applies under the relevant law and notification, and use that category when reporting the supply.
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Ask a qualified Indian tax professional or seek an appropriate official clarification when two classifications appear plausible, a rate or exemption depends on conditions, or a supply combines goods and services. The portal helps with lookup; the cited GSTN guidance does not establish that a search result is a binding ruling.
This process identifies how to check a product or service, but it cannot determine a particular code or rate without the item’s description and transaction context. Recheck CBIC’s law, schedules and notifications for the date of the transaction because they may be amended.
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