GST Rate explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
The GST rate on televisions is 18% from 22 September 2025, down from 28% plus compensation cess. Televisions were among the consumer durables moved into the standard rate by GST 2.0, alongside air conditioners, dishwashers and cement.
The change
GST 2.0 replaced four principal rates with two — 5% and 18% — plus a closed 40% demerit list. Televisions came out of the top slab and into the standard rate.
| Period | GST rate on television | Cess |
|---|---|---|
| Until 21 September 2025 | 28% | Applied above the slab |
| From 22 September 2025 | 18% | Wound down |
Under the four-slab schedule, televisions were split by screen size, with smaller sets at a lower rate than large ones. The two-rate structure does not carry a general size-based split, and a television is not in the enumerated 40% list — a large set does not drift to 40% because it is expensive. That said, notifications are amended frequently: verify the current entry for the specific HSN on cbic.gov.in before pricing a bulk supply.
The bundle around the box
Television retail is a bundled transaction — the set, delivery, wall mount, installation, cable management, sometimes an extended warranty and a subscription. The GST rate on television supplies applies to the set; how the rest is taxed depends on characterisation.
- Composite supply — naturally bundled and supplied together, with the television as the principal supply. The bundle takes the principal supply's rate.
- Mixed supply — items not naturally bundled sold for a single price. The whole supply takes the highest applicable rate, which is why single-price promotional bundles are risky.
- Separate supplies — separately priced items follow their own entries. An extended warranty and a content subscription in particular are their own supplies.
Input tax credit
For a business — a hotel fitting out rooms, an office fitting a conference room, a retailer installing display screens — credit on a television follows the ordinary section 16 conditions: registration, a valid tax invoice, the invoice reflected in GSTR-2B, receipt of the goods, and use in the course or furtherance of business.
The section 17(5) block to watch is construction of immovable property on own account. A wall-mounted television is ordinarily distinguishable from plant embedded in the building, but where a screen is built into fixed joinery as part of a fit-out the analysis needs doing rather than assuming.
As with any retail purchase, a business buying a television at a consumer checkout will get a B2C invoice unless the GSTIN is entered first. That invoice never reaches GSTR-2B and the credit is lost, whatever the business use. This cannot be fixed after the sale.
The GST rate on television supplies, worked through a price
Take a set with a base price of Rs 48,000.
| At 28% + cess | At 18% | |
|---|---|---|
| Taxable value | Rs 48,000 | Rs 48,000 |
| GST | Rs 13,440 | Rs 8,640 |
| Invoice total (before cess) | Rs 61,440 | Rs 56,640 |
| Cost to a business claiming credit | Rs 48,000 | Rs 48,000 — unchanged |
| Cost to a consumer | Rs 61,440 | Rs 56,640 |
Intra-State, the 18% shows as 9% CGST plus 9% SGST; inter-State it is a single 18% IGST line. Where wall mounting is bundled into the sale as a composite supply, that portion takes the same 18% rather than a separate service rate.
Hotels, offices and bulk buyers
The GST rate on television purchases matters most to buyers who acquire many sets at once, and their questions are different from a consumer's.
- Hotels fitting out rooms take credit in the ordinary way, so the rate cut is cash flow rather than cost — the saving is in working capital, not margin.
- Institutional supply contracts quoted before 22 September 2025 need reading for whether the price was inclusive or exclusive of GST; that single drafting point decided who kept the ten points.
- Fit-out contractors embedding screens into fixed joinery should test the section 17(5) position before assuming credit.
- Display and digital-signage screens follow their own classification and should not be assumed to share the television entry.
Supplies straddling 22 September 2025
Festive-season orders placed before the change and delivered after it are governed by section 14, the time-of-supply rule for a change in rate of tax. It turns on supply of the goods, issue of the invoice and receipt of payment — not the invoice date alone. Where an advance was taken at the old rate and the set delivered at the new one, section 14 gives the answer and a credit note is the usual correction.
Passing the cut through
- Legal metrology. A packaged commodity whose printed MRP does not reflect a rate cut is a labelling issue before it is a tax issue.
- Contracts. Institutional supply contracts quoted "plus GST at applicable rates" repriced automatically; those quoted GST-inclusive did not, and the benefit stayed where the drafting left it.
What did not change
- The CGST/SGST/IGST split — an 18% intra-State supply is 9% + 9%.
- The charging framework, which was untouched; this was a rate notification exercise.
- Return forms, due dates, e-invoicing thresholds and reverse charge lists.
- A cut to 18% is not an exemption — the ITC consequences are the opposite.
Checklist
- Confirm the current GST rate on television supplies for your HSN on cbic.gov.in before a bulk order.
- Characterise the bundle — composite, mixed or separate — before deciding the rate.
- Price promotional bundles line by line rather than at a single figure.
- Enter the GSTIN at checkout for any business purchase.
- For orders straddling 22 September 2025, apply the section 14 test.
- Check MRP labelling reflects the current rate.
This is an explanatory guide, not tax advice. Rate notifications are amended frequently — verify the current entry for your HSN on cbic.gov.in before pricing a supply.