TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (8) TMI 622
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....ately, and what HSN code is applicable for each product type. 3. The applicant has further submitted that they intend to seek clarification regarding the classification and applicable rate of GST on Washing / Laundry Soap (in BAR or CAKE form) used for washing clothes or for toilet purposes, in view of Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate). 4. The applicant has raised the following question for Advance Ruling: (i) What is the correct classification and applicable GST rate on Washing/Laundry Soap (in BAR or CAKE form) used for washing clothes or toilet purposes as per Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate) dated 17.09.2025 effective from 22.09.2025? (ii) Whether such Washing/Laundry Soap for clothes and crockeries falls under the same GST rate and classification as Toilet Soap or under a separate tariff heading? (iii) What are the applicable 8 digit HSN codes and Rate of GST for Washing Soap, Laundry Soap, Crockeries Soaps and Toilet Soap under GST law? 5. Personal hearing was granted on 08.04.2026 wherein S/Shri Keyur S. Viradiya, Nikunj D. Paghdal and Bipinkumar Sutariya appeared on behalf of the applicant and reiterated the facts & g....
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.... Flavour Sweet Flower Perfume 1.5-2 Soda Ash 15-20 AOS 3 - 4 CBSX 0.1-0.3 Filler 35 - 40 Methyl Ester Sulfonate (Soap Base Noodles) 10-15 Pam Oil 2-3 Labsa 5 -10 Silicate 12 - 18 Colour As per Customer Requirement *Available in pack of 250gm, 220gm, 180gm, 170gm, 160gm, 150gm, 140gm, 125gm 2. Semi-Detergent Oil Base Soap (Fancy Flower): Ingredients Composition (%) Flavour Fancy Flower Perfume 2-3 Soda Ash 15-20 AOS 1-2 CBSX 0.1-0.3 Filler 30-35 Methyl Ester Sulfonate (Soap Base Noodles) 10-15 Pam Oil 1-2 Labsa 7-15 Silicate 15-20 Colour As per Customer Requirement * Available in pack of 200gm, 180gm, 170gm, 160gm, 150gm, 140gm,130gm, 120gm 3. Detergent Soap (Jasmine): Ingredients Composition (%) Flavour Jasmine Perfume 1.5-2 Soda Ash 2-3 AOS 1-2 CBSX 0.2-0.3 Filler 55 - 60 Methyl Ester Sulfonate (Soap Base Noodles) 5 - 10 Pam Oil 1-2 Labsa 5-10 Silicate 20-25 Colour As per Customer Requirement * Available in pack of 200gm, 180gm ....
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....ve also considered the issue involved, the relevant facts & the applicant's submission/views in respect of question on which the advance ruling is sought. 9. The applicant has submitted that they are engaged in the manufacture and trading of Washing/Laundry Soap in bar/cake form used for washing clothes or for toilet purposes; that Detergent Soap Bars are in various weights (ranging from 125 gms. To 300 gms.) marketed under the brand names "Chehar" and "Tavas" and fragrances include sweet flower, fancy flower, jasmine, lemon and mix flower; that these products are designed not only to remove stains but to provide long lasting fragrance to apparel, which directly impacts the body hygiene and personal grooming of the wearer; that the GST rate and classification of their products have been revised vide Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate) dated 17.09.2025, effective from 22.09.2025 following the recommendations of the 56th GST Council Meeting and there exists ambiguity regarding whether laundry soap and toilet soap are treated under a common heading or separately, and what HSN code is applicable for each product type; that they intend to seek clarification regarding the clas....
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....ustoms Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975) CHAPTER 34 Soap, organic surface-active agents, washing preparations, lubricating preparations, artificial waxes, prepared waxes, polishing or scouring preparations, candles and similar articles, modelling pastes, "dental waxes" and dental preparations with a basis of plaster NOTES : 1. This Chapter does not cover: (a) edible mixtures or preparations of animal, vegetable or microbial fats or oils of a kind used as mould release preparations (heading 1517); (b) separate chemically defined compounds; or (c) shampoos, dentrifices, shaving creams and foams, or bath preparations, containing soap or other organic surface-active agents (heading 3305, 3306 or 3307). 2. For the purposes of heading 3401, the expression-soap applies only to soap soluble in water. Soap and the other products of heading 3401 may contain added substances (for example, disinfectants, abrasive powders, fillers or medicaments). Products containing abrasive powders remain classified in heading 3401 only if in the form of bars, cakes or moulded pieces or shapes. In other forms they are to be classified in heading 3405 as-....
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.... cream 3401 11 90 - - - Other 3401 19 - - Other: - - - Bars and blocks of not less than 500 gm in weight : 3401 19 11 - - - - Industrial soap 3401 19 19 - - - - Other 3401 19 20 - - - Flakes, chips and powder 3401 19 30 - - - Tablets and cakes - - - Household and laundry soaps not elsewhere specified or included : 3401 19 41 - - - - Household soaps 3401 19 42 - - - - Laundry soaps 3401 19 90 - - - Other 3401 20 00 - Soap in other forms 3401 30 - Organic surface-active products and preparations for washing the skin, in the form of liquid or cream and put up for retail sale, whether or not containing soap : - - - For toilet use (including medicated products): 3401 30 11 - - - - Medicated toilet soaps 3401 30 12 - - - - Shaving cream and shaving gel 3401 30 19 - - - - Other 3401 30 90 - - - Other HSN Notes of Tariff Heading 3401: 34.01- Soap; organic surface-active products and preparations for use as soap, in the form of bars, cakes, moulded pieces or shapes, whether or not con....
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....(shaving creams fall in heading 33.07). (d) Medicated soaps containing boric acid, salicylic acid, sulphur, sulphonamides or other medicinal substances. (e) Disinfectant soaps, containing small quantities of phenol, cresol, naphthol, fonnaldehyde or other bactericidal, bacteriostatic, etc., substances. These soaps should not be confused with disinfecting preparations of heading 38.08 containing the same constituents, the difference lying in the proportions of the constituents (soap, on the one hand, and phenol, cresol, etc., on the other). The disinfecting preparations of heading 38.08 contain a substantial proportion of phenol, cresol, etc., and are liquid whereas disinfectant soaps are usually solid. (f) Abrasive soaps, consisting of soap to which sand, silica, pumice powder, slate powder, sawdust or any similar product has been added. The heading covers abrasive soaps only in the form of bars, cakes or moulded pieces or shapes. Abrasive scouring pastes and powders, whether or not containing soap, fall in heading 34.05. (2) Household soaps, which may be coloured or perfumed, abrasive or disinfectant. (3) Rosin, tall oil or naphthenate ....
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....se may be). (c) Paper, wadding, felt and nonwovens, simply perfumed (Chapter 33). (d) Shampoos and dentifrices (headings 33.05 and 33.06 respectively). (e) Organic surface-active agents (other than soap), surface-active preparations and washing preparations (whether or not containing soap) and solutions or dispersions of soap in an organic solvent, of heading 34.02. (f) Cellular plastics, cellular rubber, textile materials (other than wadding, felt and nonwovens) and metal pads, impregnated, coated or covered with soap or detergent (these generally fall in the heading appropriate to the supporting material). 12. We have gone through the Chapter notes of Chapter 34 of the First Schedule to the Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (51 of 1975), tariff heading 3401 as appearing in the Customs Tariff as well as HSN notes to tariff heading 3401. During the course of personal hearing, the applicant was asked to submit the manufacturing process of their products. We find that the applicant has, instead, submitted the typical chemical composition of their products i.e. semi-detergent oil base soaps and detergent soaps as well as the photographs of their products.....
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....-applicability of the definition of one statute in another statute as under: "43. We are unable to persuade ourselves to agree with the submission. It is a settled principle in excise classification that the definition of one statute having a different object, purpose and scheme cannot be applied mechanically to another statute. As aforesaid, the object of the Excise Act is to raise revenue for which various goods are differently classified in the Act. The conditions or restrictions contemplated by one statute having a different object and purpose should not be lightly and mechanically imported and applied to a fiscal statute for non-levy of excise duty, thereby causing a loss of revenue. [See; Medley Pharmaceuticals Limited v. Commissioner of Central Excise and Customs, Daman - (2011) 2 SCC 601 = 2011 (263) E.L.T. 641 (S.C.) and Commissioner of Central Excise, Nagpur v. Shree Baidyanath Ayurved Bhavan Limited - 2009 (12) SCC 419 = 2009 (237) E.L.T. 225 (S.C.)]. The provisions of PFA, dedicated to food adulteration, would require a technical and scientific understanding of "ice-cream" and thus, may require different standards for a goods to be marketed as "ice-cream". Thes....
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....nder the definition of 'toilet soaps'. 15. In common parlance, soap is defined as a water-soluble sodium or potassium salt of fatty acids, typically produced through the saponification of natural oils or fats with an alkali (like sodium hydroxide for bars) and acts as a surfactant for cleaning and bathing with quality often determined by Total Fatty Matter (TFM). Further, toilet soaps generally have a higher Total Fatty Matter (TFM) of 60-80% compared to laundry soaps, which means they contain more skin-conditioning materials. The main difference between toilet / bathing and laundry / washing soap is that Toilet / Bathing soaps are typically potassium salts of fatty acids. making them softer, while washing soaps (laundry soaps) are sodium salts of fatty acids, resulting in a harder consistency, with the key difference stemming from the use of potassium hydroxide (KOH) for bathing soaps versus sodium hydroxide (NaOH) for washing soaps during their production. On going through the chemical composition of the semi-detergent and detergent soaps given by the applicant, we do not find the mention of the content of Total Fatty matter (TFM) contained therein nor do we find the presence ....
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....I Act based on available information. Such information cannot be equated with decisions of higher judicial forum and hence, are not binding on us. 18. Having decided the classification of the products of the applicant, we need to find out the GST rate of the products for which a reference will be required to be made to Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate) dated 17.09.2025. Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate) dated 17.09.2025 reads as under: GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE (DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE) Notification No. 9/2025-Central Tax (Rate) New Delhi, the 17th September, 2025 In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 9 and sub-section (5) of section 15 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (12 of 2017), and in supersession of the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Finance (Department of Revenue), No. 01/2017-Central Tax (Rate), dated the 28th June, 2017 published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, Sub-section (i), vide number G.S.R. 673(E), dated the 28th June, 2017, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession, the Centr....