Understanding GST's Influence on Household Electronics and Industrial Equipment
This article explores the impact of Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates on household electronic appliances and various electrical machinery in India. It details the pre-GST taxation landscape, the current GST rates for different categories, and the overall effects of the revised framework. The discussion highlights the reduction in tax burden for many consumer electronics, the benefits of input tax credit for manufacturers, and the simplification of the tax structure, aiming to promote domestic manufacturing and ease of doing business.
In contemporary society, numerous electronic devices are considered essential for daily living. Homes commonly feature appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners to meet fundamental requirements. This article examines how Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates affect these domestic appliances and explores the declared rates for various electrical machinery. Notably, recent updates from the 56th GST Council meeting, effective September 22, 2025, include a reduction in GST rates for air conditioning units, televisions (up to 32 inches), and dishwashing machines, moving from 28% to 18%.
Pre-GST Taxation for Household Electronics
Prior to the implementation of GST, household appliances generally incurred an average Value Added Tax (VAT) rate of approximately 11-12.5% across most Indian states. Additionally, an excise duty of 12.5% was levied on these items. When factoring in Central Sales Tax (CST) and other local levies, the cumulative tax burden on such goods typically ranged from 25% to 26%.
Current GST Rates for Household Appliances and Electrical Equipment
| Chapters No. | Particulars | Rates |
|---|---|---|
| GST Rates @5% | ||
| 4421 | Other articles of wood; such as clothes hangers, Spools, cops, bobbins, sewing thread reels and the like of turned wood for various textile machinery, Match splints, Pencil slats, Parts of wood, namely oars, paddles and rudders for ships, boats and other similar floating structures, Parts of domestic decorative articles used as tableware and kitchenware [other than Wood paving blocks, articles of densified wood not elsewhere included or specified, Parts of domestic decorative articles used as tableware and kitchenware] | 5% |
| 5911 | Textile products and articles, for technical uses, specified in Note 7 to this Chapter; such as Textile fabrics, felt and felt-lined woven fabrics, coated, covered or laminated with rubber, leather or other material, of a kind used for card clothing, and similar fabrics of a kind used for other technical purposes, including narrow fabrics made of velvet impregnated with rubber, for covering weaving spindles (weaving beams); Bolting cloth, whether or not made up; Felt for cotton textile industries, woven; Woven textiles felt, whether or not impregnated or coated, of a kind commonly used in other machines; Cotton fabrics and articles used in machinery and plant; Jute fabrics and articles used in machinery or plant; Textile fabrics of metalised yarn of a kind commonly used in paper making or other machinery; Straining cloth of a kind used in oil presses or the like, including that of human hair; Paper maker's felt, woven; Gaskets, washers, polishing discs and other machinery parts of textile articles. | 5% |
| 8432 | Agricultural, horticultural or forestry machinery for soil preparation or cultivation; lawn or sports-ground rollers; Parts [8432 90] | 5% |
| 8433 | Harvesting or threshing machinery, including straw or fodder balers; grass or hay mowers; parts thereof | 5% |
| 8436 | Other agricultural, horticultural, forestry, poultry-keeping or bee- keeping machinery, including germination plant fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment; poultry incubators and brooders; parts thereof. | 5% |
| GST Rates@ 18% | ||
| 8422 | Dish washing machines, household [8422 11 00] and other [8422 19 00]; Machinery for cleaning or drying bottles or other containers; machinery for filling, closing, sealing or labelling bottles, cans, boxes, bags or other containers; machinery for capsuling bottles, jars, tubes and similar containers; other packing or wrapping machinery (including heat-shrink wrapping machinery); machinery for aerating beverages. | 18% |
| 8525 | Closed-circuit television (CCTV), transmission apparatus for radio-broadcasting or television, whether or not incorporating reception apparatus or sound recording or reproducing apparatus; television cameras, digital cameras and video camera recorders [other than two-way radio (Walkie talkie) used by defense, police and paramilitary forces, etc.] | 18% |
| 8418 | Refrigerators, freezers and other refrigerating or freezing equipment, electric or other; heat pumps other than air conditioning machines of heading 8415 | 18% |
| 8401 | Nuclear reactors; machinery and apparatus for isotopes separation | 18% |
| 8419 [other than 8419 12] | Machinery, plant or laboratory equipment, whether or not electrically heated (excluding furnaces, ovens and other equipment of heading 8514), for the treatment of materials by a process involving a change of temperature such as heating, cooking, roasting, distilling, rectifying, sterilising, pasteurising, steaming, drying, evaporating, vaporising, condensing or cooling, other than machinery or plant of a kind used for domestic purposes; instantaneous or storage water heaters, non-electric [other than Solar water heater and system] | 18% |
| 8421 | Centrifuges, including centrifugal dryers; filtering or purifying machinery and apparatus, for liquids or gases | 18% |
| 8422 | Dish washing machines, household [8422 11 00] and other [8422 19 00]; Machinery for cleaning or drying bottles or other containers; machinery for filling, closing, sealing or labelling bottles, cans, boxes, bags or other containers; machinery for capsuling bottles, jars, tubes and similar containers; other packing or wrapping machinery (including heat-shrink wrapping machinery); machinery for aerating beverages. | 18% |
| 8423 | Weighing machinery (excluding balances of a sensitivity of 5 centigrams or better), including weight operated counting or checking machines; weighing machine weights of all kinds | 18% |
| 8428 | Other lifting, handling, loading or unloading machinery (for example, lifts, escalators, conveyors, teleferics) | 18% |
| 8430 | Other moving, grading, levelling, scraping, excavating, tamping, compacting, extracting or boring machinery, for earth, minerals or ores; piledrivers and pile-extractors; snow-ploughs and snow-blowers | 18% |
| 8431 | Parts suitable for use solely or principally with the machinery of headings 8425 to 8430 | 18% |
| 8433 | Machines for cleaning, sorting or grading eggs, fruit or other agricultural produce, other than machinery of heading 8437; parts thereof [8433 90 00] | 18% |
| 8434 | Milking machines and dairy machinery | 18% |
| 8435 | Presses, crushers and similar machinery used in the manufacture of wine, cider, fruit juices or similar beverages | 18% |
| 8437 | Machines for cleaning, sorting or grading, seed, grain or dried leguminous vegetables; machinery used in milling industry or for the working of cereals or dried leguminous vegetables other than farm type machinery and parts thereof | 18% |
| 8438 | Machinery, not specified or included elsewhere in this Chapter, for the industrial preparation or manufacture of food or drink,other than machinery for the extraction or preparation of animal or fixed vegetable or microbial fats or oils | 18% |
| 8439 | Machinery for making pulp of fibrous cellulosic material or for making or finishing paper or paperboard | 18% |
| 8440 | Book-binding machinery, including book-sewing machines | 18% |
| 8441 | Other machinery for making up paper pulp, paper or paperboard, including cutting machines of all kinds | 18% |
| 8442 | Machinery, apparatus and equipment (other than the machines of headings 8456 to 8465) for preparing or making plates, printing components; plates, cylinders and lithographic stones, prepared for printing purposes (for example, planed, grained or polished) | 18% |
| 8443 | Printing machinery used for printing by means of plates, cylinders and other printing components of heading 8442; other printers, copying machines and facsimile machines, whether or not combined; parts and accessories thereof | 18% |
| 8445 | Machines for preparing textile fibres; spinning, doubling or twisting machines and other machinery for producing textile yarns; textile reeling or winding (including weft-winding) machines and machines for preparing textile yarns for use on the machines of heading 8446 or 8447 | 18% |
| 8448 | Auxiliary machinery for use with machines of heading 8444, 8445, 8446 or 8447 (for example, dobbies, Jacquards, automatic stop motions, shuttle changing mechanisms); parts and accessories suitable for use solely or principally with the machines of this heading or of heading 8444, 8445, 8446 or 8447 (for example, spindles and spindles flyers, card clothing, combs, extruding nipples, shuttles, healds and heald frames, hosiery needles) | 18% |
| 8449 | Machinery for the manufacture or finishing of felt or nonwovens in the piece or in shapes, including machinery for making felt hats; blocks for making hats | 18% |
| 8451 | Machinery (other than machines of heading 8450) for washing, cleaning, wringing, drying, ironing, pressing (including fusing presses), bleaching, dyeing, dressing, finishing, coating or impregnating textile yarns, fabrics or made up textile articles and machines for applying the paste to the base fabric or other support used in the manufacture of floor covering such as linoleum; machines for reeling, unreeling, folding, cutting or pinking textile fabrics | 18% |
| 8453 | Machinery for preparing, tanning or working hides, skins or leather or for making or repairing footwear or other articles of hides, skins or leather, other than sewing machines | 18% |
How GST Affects Domestic Appliances and Electrical Equipment
The revised GST framework, which became effective on September 22, 2025, has streamlined the tax system into main slabs of 5% and 18%. A 40% demerit rate applies to certain luxury and sin items, while handlooms in the handicraft sector maintain a Nil GST rate, supporting traditional craftspeople. Previously, essential electronic home appliances like air conditioners, televisions, and dishwashers were subject to a 28% tax, which represented a slight increase over the previous VAT system. However, the updated GST structure has lowered the tax on these goods to 18%, making them more accessible for purchasers.
This reduction allows manufacturers, including major brands, to transfer cost savings to consumers. Furthermore, the introduction of input tax credit on services for manufacturers, a benefit not available under the VAT regime, helps decrease operational costs and improves market competitiveness. Manufacturers in Mumbai, who previously paid an additional 5% octroi charge alongside other taxes, no longer face this burden under the new GST rates, offering substantial relief. These adjusted GST rates are designed to lighten the financial load on consumers, stimulate local manufacturing, and simplify the tax system, thereby supporting the government's goals of economic expansion and business facilitation. While an increase in prices for certain consumer electronics such as televisions, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and air conditioners might be anticipated due to inflation and tax rate adjustments, the pricing for commercial electrical machinery is expected to remain stable.