HSN codes for online sellers: what they are and how many digits you need

HSN and SAC

HSN is for goods, SAC for services. SAC codes always start with 99.

The full list has 22,616 codes: 21,935 HSN and 681 SAC. It is published on the GST portal.

How many digits

If last year’s turnover was under ₹5 crore, 4 digits are enough. Above that you need 6.

Note: last year’s turnover, not this year’s.

What a wrong code costs

A code that is not in the GST master list gets the file rejected. One real Amazon file had 770 and 7724, neither of which exists; someone had typed them by hand.

The same file had 144 rows with no HSN at all: ₹32,400, 9 percent of that seller’s turnover. A file like that cannot be uploaded until it is fixed.

The rate depends on the code too

This is the more serious part. The same Amazon seller had 96 percent of their goods at 3 percent, the jewellery rate, including steel kitchenware, plastic masala boxes and wooden moulds.

Since GST 2.0 on 22 September 2025, the 12 and 28 percent slabs are gone and most household goods like kitchenware are at 5 percent. So this seller’s right rate is probably 5, not 3. A small gap, but on every order every month, and payable with interest.

We are not telling you the exact rate for your product; that depends on the product and sometimes its price. Only this: goods that are not jewellery at the jewellery rate is a question worth having checked.