GST on Artificial Jewellery, Bangles, Bindi, Mehendi and Kurti for Wedding Season

Updated 28 October 2026 · By Ashok Sachdev · Sources: Notification 9/2025-Central Tax (Rate); Notification 10/2025-Central Tax (Rate); PIB release on the 56th GST Council meeting. Not tax advice; confirm with your CA.

After Diwali the wedding months begin, and ladies' fancy stores, garment shops and cosmetics stores see big mixed baskets: a necklace set, a few dozen bangles, bindi packets, mehendi cones, hair accessories and two or three kurtis, all on one bill. Searches like "gst on artificial jewellery", "alta hsn code", "kurti gst rate" and "gst on bangles" show that shopkeepers want a clear answer per item. This guide gives the HSN and rate for each, explains the kurti price slab, and works one full bill.

In short

• 0%: glass, lac and plastic bangles; kumkum, bindi, sindoor, alta; kajal that is not a pencil stick.
• 3%: imitation jewellery (HSN 7117) and imitation metal bangles. Gold and silver jewellery is also 3%.
• 5%: mehendi cones, combs, hair clips and hairpins, woven or knitted kurtis up to ₹2,500 a piece, sarees.
• 18%: kurtis above ₹2,500 a piece, and kajal pencil sticks.

Rate and HSN table

Item pages: imitation jewellery, bangles, kajal, kumkum and bindi, readymade garments and saree.

The traps in a wedding-season basket

1. "Bangles" is not one rate

Glass, lac and plastic bangles are nil-rated. Imitation metal bangles are 3%. A shop that bills all bangles under one item will either undercharge or overcharge. Create separate items for glass and for metal.

2. Bindi 0%, kajal pencil 18%

The nil entry covers kajal (other than pencil sticks), kumkum, bindi, sindoor and alta. A kajal pencil, which many customers pick up from the same stand, is 18%. Alta HSN 3304 at 0% is what the notification lists, so the same item master should not carry a blanket "cosmetics 18%". We cover the wider cosmetics list in GST on cosmetics and beauty products.

3. Kurti: the slab is per piece, not per bill

For woven and knitted garments, 5% applies to a sale value of up to ₹2,500 a piece, and 18% above that. A ₹1,800 cotton kurti and a ₹3,200 designer kurti on the same bill carry different rates. Before 22 September 2025 the 5% rate stopped at ₹1,000 a piece and 12% applied above it; that 12% slab no longer exists. If a piece sits close to ₹2,500 after a discount, ask your CA how the sale value is read in your case. Our detailed note is in GST on clothes.

4. Imitation jewellery rate: use the HSN from the notification, not memory

Imitation jewellery under 7117 appears at 3% in Schedule IV of Notification 9/2025. Some online lists show other rates for it, so match your supplier's HSN with the notification before you set it up. For real gold and silver jewellery, see GST on gold jewellery; making charges and old-gold exchange have their own rules.

5. Bridal sets at one price

A boxed bridal set with jewellery, bangles, bindi and a mehendi cone sold for a single price is a combination of items at different rates. Under Section 8 of the CGST Act a mixed supply is taxed at the highest rate among its items. If you sell such sets, ask your CA how to price and invoice them, or bill each piece as a line.

Worked bill (EXAMPLE figures)

A customer in the same state buys the following. Prices are before GST.

The invoice total is ₹7,958.50. CGST and SGST each take half: ₹22.50 on the necklace, ₹3.75 on mehendi, ₹5 on hair clips, ₹45 on the cotton kurti and ₹288 on the designer kurti. The kurti slab alone changes the tax on a ₹1,800 piece and a ₹3,200 piece by a large amount, so this is the line to get right.

What to put on the invoice

• HSN digits: Notification 78/2020-Central Tax requires 4 digits on B2B invoices up to ₹5 crore turnover and 6 digits above.
• One item per rate: glass bangles, metal bangles, kajal stick and kajal pencil are four different items.
• Kurti by price band: keep a 5% and an 18% version, or confirm that your billing app picks the rate by the price you enter.
• Advance and bulk orders: wedding orders often take an advance first; GST on advances for goods is generally not charged until supply, but confirm with your CA for your case.

Need a code that is not here? Use the HSN and GST rate finder.

How RichPOS helps a ladies' fancy or garment shop

In RichPOS you save the HSN code and GST rate for each item, so the glass bangles carry 0%, the necklace 3% and the mehendi cone 5%, and the tax is shown per line on the invoice. RichPOS does not choose the HSN for you, so use the table above or your supplier's invoice. For shops that mix clothing and accessories, see billing software for a clothing shop and for a cosmetics shop, and the notes on size and colour variants.

RichPOS is free for 30 days, then ₹99/month for the first 3 months, then ₹199/month or ₹1,999/year. No GST is added to these prices. Start your free 30 days.

Rates checked on 28 October 2026 against Notification 9/2025-Central Tax (Rate), Notification 10/2025-Central Tax (Rate) (both dated 17 September 2025, in force 22 September 2025) and PIB, 56th GST Council, Annexure I. The Section 8 point on bridal sets and the kurti sale-value reading near ₹2,500 are questions for your CA, not rates. This is general information, not tax advice.