Wooden Furniture GST Rate 2022 – All You Need to Know
Building a new house and making it beautiful and comfortable from the inside out is an expensive endeavour. You need to account for everything, every penny spent, every minute devoted. Hence, it is important to budget right in the very beginning. This is especially true when it comes to buying wooden furniture. You need to account for everything, from how much the furniture will cost to what is the GST rate for wooden furniture. The GST council declared the tax rate on certain goods and services, including furniture, on May 18, 2017. Since then, the rates have been modified. The final cost of wooden furniture is determined by the cost of raw materials. Hence, an understanding of how various materials are taxed is very important to assess the final rate of GST on wooden furniture. Here is an updated list of the latest GST rates on wooden furniture in India which you will find handy.
Items That are Exempt or have Minimal Tax
Firewood or wood charcoal is exempt from taxation. Firewood is used in large amounts in rural India for the purpose of cooking and lighting fire. Wood charcoal, on the other hand, has a lot of uses. It is used as a fuel, as a pest deterrent, as a decolouring agent. It also prevents rusting.
Wood in chips, sawdust or waste of wood are taxed at 5% under the GST law. Sawdust can be used as mulch, an alternative to clay cat litter, or a fuel. Wood chips can be used as a raw material to produce wood pulp, as a solid fuel, and in the gardens for mulching.
Items Under 12% GST
The GST rate on wooden furniture items like drums, wooden boxes, and crates as well the wood used while making a walking stick, an umbrella and tool handles or anything similar is 12%. These are frequently used items in construction projects as they include boxes and tools.
Wood and bamboo pulp also come in at 12% taxation. Bamboo pulp is used for making all kinds of paper products like paper printouts, receipts, envelopes, tissues, paper cups, napkins, etc. Wood pulp is another biodegradable material which is similarly used for paper, tissue, board and specialty paper.
Certain particle boards also fall in this category. Particle boards are used constantly during construction and for making flat-pack furniture, interior cupboards and work surfaces. They are also used for wall and floor panels. Boards which fall under this category are:
- Glass-fibre Reinforced Gypsum Board
- Cement Bonded Particle Board
- Bagasse Board
- Jute Particle Board
- Rice Husk Particle Board
- Particle/fibreboard manufactured from agricultural crop residues
- Glass-fibre Reinforced Gypsum Board
- Sisal-fibre Boards
- Cotton Stalk Particle Board
GST rates on wooden furniture and wooden decorations used as kitchenware or tableware (except the ones notified @28 % as per GST) are also taxed at 12%. These items make up the majority of furnishing and decorations items that a buyer looks for while furniture shopping.
Read - Top 6 Reasons to Buy Furniture Online Now
Articles Under 18% GST Bracket
Residual lye from wood pulp manufacturing, concentrated or not, and de-sugared, comes under the 18% tax bracket. Even residue, which is treated chemically, including lignin sulfonates, but excluding tall oil, falls under the same category.
Wood tar, wood tar oils, wood naphtha (methanol), vegetable pitch, brewers’ pitch and preparations similarly based on resin acids, resin or on a wood creosote and vegetable pitch are taxed at 18%. Wood tar is used as caulking material in construction applications, for sealing off leaks and joints. Wood naphtha, also called methanol or wood alcohol, is used in paint thinners and as a building block for many construction materials.
Items Under 28% Tax Bracket
Plywood, fibre wood, laminated wood and other materials which look like wood or are considered woody in nature fall under the highest category of taxation, at 28%. Plywood is one of the commonly used construction materials needed for partitions, floors, ceilings and sheathing. It is also used for decorative purposes, both on the outside as well as inside. Laminated wood is suitable for use in beams, pillars, ceilings, panels, stairs, and cladding.
Cane furniture, which lasts ideally from 10 to 15 years and is often used for outdoor settings, is also taxed heavily. However, cane furniture is a great option as it is healthy for the body and helps in cooling it down too. Maybe that’s the reason why it's such a popular choice for patios.
Wooden frames for photographs, paintings, mirrors or similar objects also fall under this bracket. If you’re big on art, pick your frames wisely.
Items taxed under the 28% rate of GST on wooden furniture category also include builders’ joinery and carpentry of wood. These include cellular wood panels, shingles, assembled flooring panels and shakes. These are essential at the time of construction, and act as important components of many wooden furniture.
Wood paving blocks, articles of densified wood that are not included or specified elsewhere, parts of domestic decorative articles used as tableware and kitchenware fall under the GST tax rate for wooden furniture of 28% bracket.
HSN Code for Wooden Furniture
HSN codes are a 6-digit number given to items to classify them better. These codes are accepted worldwide and help with systematic classification of goods. The HSN codes on wooden furniture start from 44. For example, HSN codes for furniture used in the bedroom is 940350. As observed, the GST tax for wooden furniture falls under 5 categories - nil, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.
Conclusion
There are many things you can’t control while building a house, but some things are in your hands, like budgeting. And now, after knowing the GST rate on wooden furniture items, you can start planning on how you will allot your money, as well as make smart and informed decisions while purchasing new furniture. So, stay updated on the wooden furniture’s HSN codes and GST rates to make a better choice. And if you want to take the easy route, check out what Woodsala has to offer in terms of wooden furniture, from teak to oak. No matter what your budget is, you are bound to find something that suits your pocket, needs and taste perfectly.
