GST on Courier & Express Delivery — Always 18%?

Courier services are classified under SAC 996812 (Courier services), which attracts 18% GST. Private operators such as BlueDart, DTDC, Delhivery, FedEx India and DHL all fall under this code. Goods Transport Agency (road freight against a consignment note) is a different service under SAC 9965 with its own 5%/12% structure.

Yes, for domestic and non-export international courier the rate is a uniform 18% under forward charge. The only exception is courier of an export consignment, which can be zero-rated where the statutory export conditions are met. Courier is never taxed at 5% and never falls under reverse charge — that is a GTA feature, not a courier feature.

No. The GST 2.0 rationalisation effective 22 September 2025 restructured many goods and services rates into a two-slab system but did not change courier services — they remain at 18% under SAC 996812 with forward charge and full ITC to a registered recipient.

No. A courier service and a Goods Transport Agency (GTA) are two distinct categories. A courier company takes individual parcels and documents from many senders, consolidates them and delivers door-to-door against an airway bill / courier receipt, taxed at 18% under forward charge. A GTA transports full or part truckloads against a consignment note (LR/bilty) and is taxed at 5% (no ITC) or 12% (with ITC), often under reverse charge. The two must not be confused.

No. Courier is always a forward-charge supply — the courier company charges and pays the 18% GST itself. Reverse charge on transport applies to GTA (goods transport agency) services, where a registered recipient may pay 5% GST under RCM. Applying GTA's RCM treatment to a courier invoice is a classification error.

Because they are legally different services. GTA transports bulk goods by road against a consignment note and has a concessional 5%/12% structure (partly to support the transport sector under RCM). Courier is a value-added door-to-door parcel and document service and sits at the standard 18% service rate. The document you receive (courier receipt vs consignment note) is the practical test of which one applies.

Yes. A GST-registered business can claim Input Tax Credit on the 18% GST paid on courier and express-delivery bills, provided the courier is used for business, you hold a valid tax invoice from a registered courier, the credit appears in your GSTR-2B, the supplier has filed GSTR-1, and payment is made within 180 days. ITC is not available on courier used for personal / employee-welfare purposes or for exempt supplies.

Yes. Exporters making zero-rated supplies can claim a refund of accumulated Input Tax Credit on courier and logistics costs incurred for the export business, subject to the refund conditions and documentation. This makes courier ITC particularly valuable for exporters and high-volume e-commerce shippers.

A courier agency supplies a taxable service, so registration is mandatory once aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year (₹10 lakh for special-category states). Businesses making inter-state supplies or supplying through an e-commerce operator may need to register regardless of turnover.

It depends on the direction. Courier of goods being exported out of India can be zero-rated where the export conditions (place of supply and others) are met. An outbound but non-export international courier service is taxed at the standard 18%. Goods imported via courier attract Basic Customs Duty, IGST and cess collected by customs at clearance — that is a customs levy, not domestic courier GST.

The courier of an export consignment can qualify as a zero-rated supply where the statutory conditions are satisfied, so no net GST cost is embedded and the exporter can claim an ITC refund. Because zero-rating is condition-dependent, confirm your specific case with a GST practitioner and the GST portal before treating the invoice as zero-rated.

India Post's basic postal services — ordinary letters, postcards and similar — are exempt from GST. However, Speed Post and Express Parcel Post supplied by India Post are commercial services taxable at 18%, the same rate as private couriers. A registered recipient can claim ITC on the 18% Speed Post charge.

On-demand delivery and hyperlocal logistics platforms such as Porter, Dunzo and similar services charge 18% GST on their platform / delivery service fee, in line with the courier and supporting-transport service rate. A business using these platforms for last-mile delivery can claim ITC on the 18% GST, provided it receives a valid B2B tax invoice.