Applicability and calculation of GST charges on a Bundle of Pooja items

[Nitesh Pathak]

Hi, I am starting up a business where in we will be selling a bundle/Kit of few products for eg a Havan Kit whic consists of many Items approx 30-40 Items. Now as per the GST council the Pooja items are fully exempted from GST, however the many of the individual items that will be part of this Kit are taxable under their individual catagory, For ex, Kit contains a pack of white Rice (100Gm), Ghee (250ML), Mango tree wood sticks (1KG), Agar, tagar, Chabila etc.. many of these Items are not explicitly called under exempted list but these have been traditionally used for Pooja services. 

Now the Kit itself also becomes a Pooja Item in itself.. Please suggest How should be calculate and charge the GST, also what HSN/SAC should be used. Or is the entire kit can be considered as an GST exempted item as it is used and Sold for Pooja services only.

[Sadanand Bulbule]

At the outset "POOJA/HAVAN KIT" is not defined under the CGST Act.

 So  pooja/havan kit cannot be fully exempt just because it is used for pooja—only the items specifically exempt under GST notification qualify.

The safest and correct approach is to invoice and tax each item separately as per its individual GST rate, instead of treating the kit as a single exempt product.

[Shilpi Jain]

One cannot merely go by the press release / GST council minutes to identify the exemption under GST. As per the exemption notification for goods the following puja samagri are exempt

Puja samagri namely:-

(i) Rudraksha, rudraksha mala, tulsi kanthi mala, panchgavya (mixture of cowdung, desi ghee, milk and curd);

(ii) Sacred thread (commonly known as yagnopavit);

(iii) Wooden khadau;

(iv) Panchamrit,

(v) Vibhuti,

(vi) Unbranded honey

(vii) Wick for diya.

(viii) Roli

(ix) Kalava (Raksha sutra)

(x) Chandan tika

There is a specific exemption entry for 

Rice, other than pre-packaged and labelled

Also for the other items you can chk if there is specific exemption and then plan your sales accordingly

[Raam Srinivasan Swaminathan Kalpathi]

Dear Querist

I am of the view that this supply falls under Section 2(74) - Mixed Supply as defined hereinunder

"means two or more individual supplies of goods or services or any combination thereof made in conjunction with each other by a taxable person for a single price where such supply does not constitute a composite supply"

Tax rate: Will be as per Section 8(b) one must use the HSN of the product (for the invoice as a whole) attracting the highest rate of GST.

[Nitesh Pathak]

Going by this logic, the Items which are exempted under GST for pooja related services, for example "Ganga Jal" or Rudraksha Mala which are clearly mentioned under the exempt catagory will also attract the highest GST TAX. some how this is defying the logic of placing these items under GST Exemption. Please suggest.

[Raam Srinivasan Swaminathan Kalpathi]

Dear Querist

This is how the law is structured.  Either we raise separate invoices or grit our teeth and bear the incremental tax burden.  One should never impute logic in interpreting law.  Best wishes

AI Summary

Pooja kit GST: treat as mixed supply risk; invoice items separately to apply item-level rates and preserve exemptions. A pooja/havan kit is not automatically GST-exempt; only items explicitly listed in the exemption notification qualify. The recommended approach is to tax and invoice each constituent item according to its individual GST rate and HSN. If supplied for a single price without separate invoicing, the kit may be a mixed supply and the entire supply may attract the highest rate applicable to any component under the relevant rule.