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Guide · GST Rates

GST on Stationery in India — Nil, 5% or 18%?

The updated GST rates for notebooks, pens, pencils, paper, files and office supplies after the GST 2.0 reform — with the full HSN table, ITC rules and gift-hamper treatment.

Written by
TaxClue Editorial Desk
Updated
18 August 2026
Reading time
5 min
Questions
16 answered
  • Updated for GST 2.0
  • GST Expert Reviewed
  • Schools & Offices
Quick Answer

After the GST 2.0 reform effective 22 September 2025, most school stationery is now Nil-rated: notebooks and exercise books (HSN 4820), pencils, crayons, erasers, sharpeners and maps are all exempt. Pens, markers and highlighters (HSN 9608) attract 18%, while A4/office paper and geometry boxes are 5%. Office tools such as staplers, tape, glue and ink cartridges stay at 18%.

NilNotebooks & pencils
18%Pens & markers
5%A4 paper / geometry box
18%Office tools
At a glance

GST Rate on Stationery — Full HSN Table

The current GST rate and HSN code for every common stationery item, updated for the two-slab GST 2.0 structure.

Stationery ItemHSNGST RateNotes
Notebooks / exercise books4820NilLined, blank, spiral, graph & lab books
Pencils, crayons, pastels9609NilIncl. colour pencils & charcoal
Erasers4016NilExempt from 22 Sep 2025
Pencil sharpeners8214NilMoved from 12% to Nil
Maps, atlases, globes, charts4905NilEducational geography items
Printed books / textbooks4901NilBoard-prescribed & general books
Newspapers / periodicals4902NilPrinted news & journals
A4 / copier / writing paper48025%Office and printing paper
Geometry / maths instrument box90175%Compass & protractor sets
Colour boxes96095%Reduced from 12% to 5%
Pens — ball / gel / fountain960818%All pens; refills follow the pen
Markers & highlighters960818%Whiteboard & permanent markers
Envelopes (paper)481718%Letter & padded envelopes
Staplers & pins830518%Desktop & handheld staplers
Scissors / paper cutters821318%Office scissors & knives
Adhesive tape391918%Cello, masking, double-sided
Glue / office adhesives350618%Glue sticks, PVA, cement
Plastic files & folders392618%Polypropylene folders & binders
Ink cartridges / toner844318%Printer ink & laser toner

Rates reflect the GST 2.0 two-slab structure effective 22 September 2025 (56th GST Council). Confirm the exact HSN on the official portal before invoicing.

The core split

Why Notebooks Are Nil but Pens Are 18%

GST 2.0 deliberately made core school stationery tax-free to cut education costs, but writing instruments under Chapter 96 (pens, markers) landed in the standard 18% slab. The result is an item-by-item split that surprises many buyers.

Nil

Exempt — core learning items

  • Notebooks & exercise books (4820)
  • Pencils, crayons, pastels, erasers
  • Pencil sharpeners
  • Maps, atlases, globes & charts
  • Printed books & newspapers
18%

Standard slab — instruments & tools

  • Pens, gel & fountain pens (9608)
  • Markers & highlighters
  • Staplers, scissors, tape & glue
  • Plastic files, folders & binders
  • Ink & toner cartridges
Biggest change: pens rose from 12% to 18%

Before 22 September 2025, most writing items sat at 12%. GST 2.0 exempted notebooks and pencils but pushed pens, markers and highlighters up to 18%. If you sell mixed stationery, your invoice now carries three different rates — Nil, 5% and 18% — so line-item HSN accuracy matters more than ever.

Not sure which slab your stationery falls in?

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Paper & print

GST on Paper, Books & Newspapers

Paper is split by use. The paper inside a finished notebook is exempt as part of the book, but loose A4, copier and writing paper (HSN 4802) is taxed at 5%. Finished printed books and newspapers remain Nil.

Paper / Print ItemHSNGST Rate
Printed books / textbooks4901Nil
Newspapers & periodicals4902Nil
Notebooks & exercise books4820Nil
A4 / copier / writing paper48025%
Cartons, boxes & packaging paper481918%

Loose office paper (4802) is 5%; the same paper bound into a notebook is exempt.

  1. 1Raw paper (4802)5% on the reel / ream
  2. 2Converted to notebookBecomes HSN 4820
  3. 3Finished notebookSold Nil-rated
  4. 4BuyerNo GST on the notebook

Run a paper, printing or stationery business? Get your HSN classification reviewed.

Talk to a GST Expert →
For businesses

ITC on Office Stationery

A GST-registered business can claim Input Tax Credit on stationery bought for office use — but only where GST was actually charged. Nil-rated items (notebooks, pencils) carry no tax and so no ITC; pens, files and ink cartridges at 18% do generate claimable credit.

✓ITC is available when

  • Item is taxable (pens, tools, ink at 18%; paper at 5%)
  • Bought for business use, not personal
  • You hold a valid tax invoice with correct HSN
  • The supplier filed GSTR-1 so it shows in your GSTR-2B

!ITC is blocked / nil when

  • Item is Nil-rated (no tax was paid)
  • Stationery gifted to staff over the Section 17(5) gift limit
  • Used for making exempt supplies
  • Personal-use purchases
  • Valid GST invoice with correct HSN
  • Right rate on each line (Nil / 5% / 18%)
  • Business-use purchase
  • Supplier GSTR-1 filed (GSTR-2B match)
  • No blocked-credit or gift-limit issue
  • Records kept as per GST rules
TaxClue Insight

Because a single stationery bill can now span Nil, 5% and 18% lines, a mis-keyed HSN is the most common cause of ITC mismatch notices for retailers. Get your item master mapped once and your GSTR-2B reconciliations get far cleaner.

Bundles & sets

Gift Hampers & Stationery Sets

When unrelated stationery items are bundled and sold for a single price, it is a mixed supply — the highest GST rate in the bundle applies to the whole pack. So a hamper mixing Nil notebooks, 5% paper and 18% pens is taxed entirely at 18%.

  • A mixed supply (items not naturally bundled) takes the highest rate in the pack — usually 18% once a pen or plastic folder is included.
  • A composite supply (naturally bundled, e.g. a notebook sold with a free bookmark) takes the rate of the principal supply.
  • Selling components loose at their own rates avoids dragging Nil items up to 18% — price and pack accordingly.
Bundling can tax your Nil items at 18%

A back-to-school kit that pairs exempt notebooks and pencils with a pen or plastic geometry pouch becomes a mixed supply taxed at 18% on the full MRP. Billing the exempt items separately keeps them Nil-rated.

Sources
  1. Rates & notifications: gst.gov.in
  2. CBIC rate finder: cbic-gst.gov.in
  3. GST 2.0 rate revision: 56th GST Council (3 Sep 2025), effective 22 Sep 2025
  4. Mixed vs composite supply: Section 8, CGST Act 2017

Disclaimer: This guide is general information based on the law and notifications in force when it was last updated. It is not professional advice for your case — rates, thresholds and due dates change, so check the current position with the official source before you act on it.

People also ask

Questions, answered

Short, direct answers to the 16 questions readers ask most on this topic.

It varies by item after GST 2.0 (effective 22 September 2025). Notebooks, exercise books, pencils, crayons, erasers, sharpeners and maps are now Nil-rated (exempt). A4/office paper and geometry boxes are taxed at 5%. Pens, markers, highlighters and office tools such as staplers, tape, glue and ink cartridges are at 18%. Printed books and newspapers remain Nil.

Nil. Since 22 September 2025, notebooks and exercise books (HSN 4820) — including lined, blank, spiral, graph and laboratory notebooks — are fully exempt from GST. They were earlier taxed at 12%. The GST 2.0 reform moved this core school item to the Nil slab to reduce education costs.

18%. Ballpoint, gel, rollerball and fountain pens (HSN 9608), along with markers and highlighters, attract 18% GST. Pens moved up from the earlier 12% rate under GST 2.0, even though notebooks and pencils were made tax-free — writing instruments under Chapter 96 sit in the standard 18% slab.

No. Pencils, colour pencils, crayons and pastels (HSN 9609), erasers (4016) and pencil sharpeners (8214) are all Nil-rated since 22 September 2025. These were previously taxed at 12% and are now exempt as part of the GST 2.0 relief on school stationery.

GST 2.0 exempted core learning materials — notebooks, pencils, erasers, maps — to lower the cost of schooling. Writing instruments such as pens, markers and highlighters fall under Chapter 96 and were placed in the standard 18% slab instead. So a mixed stationery bill can now carry Nil, 5% and 18% lines at the same time.

5%. Geometry and mathematical instrument boxes (compass, protractor, set-square kits) are taxed at 5% after GST 2.0, reduced from the earlier 12%. Colour boxes were similarly cut to 5%.

5%. Uncoated printing and writing paper, including A4 copier paper, letterhead and bond paper (HSN 4802), is taxed at 5%. Note the distinction: loose office paper is 5%, but the same paper bound into a finished notebook (HSN 4820) is Nil-rated.

No. Printed books, including board-prescribed textbooks and children's picture books (HSN 4901), are Nil-rated, as are printed newspapers and periodicals (HSN 4902). Only loose paper and non-book stationery attract GST.

Paper envelopes (HSN 4817) — letter, window and padded envelopes — are taxed at 18%. Although they are paper products, envelopes are classified separately from exempt notebooks and printed matter.

18%. Office tools — staplers and pins (8305), scissors (8213), adhesive tape (3919), glue and adhesives (3506), plastic files and folders (3926) and ink/toner cartridges (8443) — all attract 18% GST. These were not reduced under GST 2.0 as they are general-purpose goods, not core school items.

18%. Printer ink cartridges and laser toner (HSN 8443) are taxed at 18%. Liquid ink for pens and stamp pads is similarly at 18%. A GST-registered business can claim ITC on these where they are used for business.

Yes, on the taxable items. A registered business can claim Input Tax Credit on pens, files, tape and ink cartridges (18%) and on office paper (5%) bought for business use, provided it holds a valid tax invoice with the correct HSN and the purchase reflects in its GSTR-2B. Nil-rated notebooks and pencils carry no GST, so there is no ITC on them.

Generally no. Under Section 17(5) of the CGST Act, ITC is blocked on goods disposed of by way of gift. Gifts to an employee up to ₹50,000 per year are not treated as a supply, but stationery gifted beyond that value blocks the related input credit.

Registration is mandatory once aggregate turnover crosses ₹40 lakh for goods (₹20 lakh for special-category states). Dealers selling only Nil-rated stationery (notebooks, pencils) may still need to register if they also deal in taxable items or make inter-state supplies. Selling through e-commerce generally requires registration regardless of turnover.

A gift hamper mixing unrelated items is a mixed supply, so the highest GST rate in the bundle applies to the whole pack. A hamper combining Nil notebooks, 5% paper and 18% pens is taxed entirely at 18%. Billing the exempt items separately keeps them Nil-rated.

There is no separate exemption based on who buys it, but after GST 2.0 most school stationery is already Nil-rated for everyone — notebooks, pencils, erasers, sharpeners and maps are exempt regardless of the buyer. Pens, geometry boxes and office tools carry their normal rates whether bought by a student or a business.