HSN Code for Sweets with GST Rate 2026: Mithai, Namkeen & Chocolates

The HSN code for Indian sweets (mithai) such as laddoo, barfi, peda, rasgulla, gulab jamun, soan papdi and halwa is 2106 90, under "sweetmeats". Sugar confectionery such as toffees, candies, boiled sweets and chewing gum is 1704, and chocolates are 1806. From 22 September 2025, all of these attract 5% GST under Schedule I of Notification 9/2025-Central Tax (Rate). Chocolates, ice cream and most sugar confectionery were at 18% before the GST 2.0 reform.

This page lists the code and current rate for every kind of sweet and snack a mithai shop or confectioner sells, explains what changed in 2025, and covers the questions sweet shops actually face: counter sales versus dining, gift boxes, festival orders, composition scheme, input tax credit and online sales.

HSN codes and GST rates for sweets

Search any item in the box above to see the exact notification entry. The table covers what a typical mithai shop, bakery or confectionery counter sells; regional sweets such as ghevar, mysore pak, rasmalai, malpua or modak are all sweetmeats under 2106 90 at the same 5% rate.

What changed for sweets on 22 September 2025

A modern sweet shop now sells almost its entire range at a single 5% rate. That simplifies billing a great deal, but only if the billing software was updated. Many websites, and Google's own AI answers, still show chocolates and chewing gum at 18% and boiled sweets at 12%. Those rates ended on 21 September 2025.

Two items in this chapter are not sweets and carry a much higher rate: pan masala (2106 90 20) and products with tobacco. From 1 February 2026, pan masala is at 40% under Notification 19/2025. A shop selling pan masala alongside sweets must bill it separately.

Mithai (2106) or confectionery (1704)?

Indian sweets are classified as "sweetmeats" under heading 2106, a residual heading for food preparations, because most are made of milk, flour, gram or nuts with sugar and are not "sugar confectionery" in the tariff sense. Sweets made almost entirely of sugar, such as batasha, mishri, chikki and gajak, are listed by name in Schedule I, S. No. 107 under 1702 or 1704. Western-style candies, toffees, jellies and gum are 1704.

Since all three are at 5% now, the rate does not change with the heading. The code still matters for the HSN summary in GSTR-1, e-way bills for bulk orders and exports, where duty drawback and the buyer country's import rules follow the code.

Counter sale or restaurant service?

Many sweet shops have a few tables where customers eat chaat, samosas or sweets. GST treats the two parts differently:

• Takeaway and counter sale: a supply of goods. Sweets are at 5%, and the shop can claim input tax credit on milk products, sugar, dry fruits, packaging and other inputs.
• Food served for eating at the premises: a restaurant service under SAC 9963. The rate is 5% without input tax credit (for restaurants not in hotels with room tariffs above ₹7,500).

Advance rulings (for example in the case of a well-known sweets and snacks chain) have held that sweets sold over the counter without any service element are goods, while items served at tables are restaurant service. For a shop doing both, keep separate billing counters or separate bill series, and split common credit so that the part used for restaurant service is not claimed.

Gift boxes, hampers and festival orders

• A box of mithai in a printed box: the box is normal packing, and the whole is sweets at 5%.
• A hamper with sweets, dry fruits, a decorative tin or glass jar and perhaps a candle: a mixed supply when sold for one price. It is taxed at the highest rate of any item. A decorative item at 18% makes the whole hamper 18%. Price items separately, or keep hampers to food items at 5%, to avoid this.
• Silver-leaf (varq) sweets are still sweetmeats; the varq is part of the sweet.
• Corporate Diwali orders are usually B2B. The buyer company usually cannot claim credit on them, because credit on goods given away as gifts is blocked under Section 17(5)(h). The supplier still charges 5% and issues a tax invoice.

Worked example: a sweet shop bill

Within the state, ₹79.50 is split into ₹39.75 CGST and ₹39.75 SGST. Most sweet shops price items inclusive of GST; the tax inside a 5% price is price × 5 ÷ 105.

Composition scheme for sweet shops

A sweet shop that makes its own sweets is a manufacturer for GST. With turnover up to ₹1.5 crore (₹75 lakh in some special category states), it can opt for composition and pay 1% of turnover. A shop that mainly runs a restaurant pays 5% under composition. Points to note:

• Manufacturers of ice cream, pan masala and tobacco products cannot opt for composition at all. A sweet shop that makes its own kulfi or ice cream for sale is shut out of the scheme.
• Composition dealers cannot charge GST on bills, cannot claim credit and cannot sell to other states.
• Since sweets are at 5% anyway, the saving from composition is the difference between 5% on sales (less credit on inputs) and 1% on turnover. For a high-margin shop, composition can still save money; for one buying expensive dry fruits and khoya with tax, the lost credit narrows the gap.

Input tax credit for sweet makers

• Raw materials: sugar (5%), khoya (5%), ghee and butter (5%), dry fruits, flavours and colours carry GST that can be claimed. Fresh milk and paneer are exempt, so there is no tax to claim on them.
• Packaging: cartons and boxes of paper (5% for corrugated and non-corrugated boxes under S. No. 322), plastic containers and printed labels (18%) carry claimable tax.
• Inverted duty: a sweet maker selling at 5% and buying printed packaging, equipment services and repairs at 18% may build up credit. The excess on goods inputs can be refunded under Section 54(3); credit on input services cannot.
• Restaurant part: credit on inputs used for dine-in service at 5% without credit must be reversed.

HSN codes and GST rates for raw materials

Buying staples loose from the mandi carries no tax and no credit; buying pre-packed and labelled stock carries 5% that a registered sweet maker can claim. For a regular-scheme shop, buying labelled stock on a tax invoice is often neutral in cost and leaves a clean audit trail.

Wedding orders, catering and bulk supplies

• Sweets supplied in boxes for a wedding or function, delivered to the venue: a sale of goods at 5%, with credit.
• Outdoor catering, where the shop cooks and serves food at the venue: a service under SAC 9963. Outside "specified premises" (hotels with room tariffs above ₹7,500), it is taxed at 5% without credit; at specified premises it is 18% with credit.
• Bulk deliveries above ₹50,000 need an e-way bill, including deliveries within the city when sent by vehicle, subject to state rules for intra-state movement.
• Advance received for a festival or wedding order does not attract GST on goods at the time of receipt (since 2017 for goods); GST is due when the invoice is issued at supply.

Private label and job work for sweet brands

Many sweet makers produce for retail chains or brands under the buyer's name. If the maker uses its own raw material and sells finished packs to the brand, it is a sale of sweets at 5%. If the brand supplies the raw material and the maker only processes it, it is job work, a manufacturing service under SAC 9988. Job work in relation to food products is taxed at 5% under Notification 11/2017 as amended by 15/2025. The raw material moves to the job worker on a delivery challan without GST if it comes back within the time limit of Section 143.

Selling sweets online and through delivery apps

• Food delivery apps (restaurant service): for restaurant food ordered through apps like Zomato and Swiggy, the platform itself pays the 5% GST under Section 9(5) and the restaurant does not charge it again on those orders.
• E-commerce sale of packed sweets (a sweets brand selling boxes on a marketplace): a sale of goods at 5% by the seller, with TCS at 0.5% deducted by the marketplace under Section 52.
• Inter-state orders: IGST at 5%. Selling to other states requires regular registration, and composition dealers cannot do it.

Exporting Indian sweets and namkeen

Packed mithai, namkeen and chikki are exported in volume to the Gulf, the UK, the US and other countries with large Indian communities. Exports are zero-rated: the exporter ships under a Letter of Undertaking without paying IGST and claims a refund of unused credit, or pays IGST and gets it refunded once the shipping bill matches GSTR-1. The eight-digit code on the shipping bill should match the invoice; namkeen under 2106 90 and sweets under 2106 90 sit on different eight-digit lines, so check the exact line. The importing country's food rules (labelling, shelf life, permitted colours) often matter more than GST for a first-time exporter.

Festival offers, discounts and free sweets

• "Buy 1 kg, get 250 g free": nothing is free in GST terms. GST is charged on the price paid for the whole quantity, and no credit reversal is needed for the extra.
• Tasting samples at the counter: small quantities given away to customers are free samples. Strictly, credit on them should be reversed under Section 17(5)(h); most shops treat this as part of normal wastage and reversal.
• Discount on the bill: GST is on the price after the discount shown on the invoice.
• Sweets given free to staff on festivals up to ₹50,000 per employee a year are not a supply, but credit on them is blocked as gifts.

Setting up a sweet shop's billing

1. Create categories, not one "sweets" item: mithai (2106 90), namkeen (2106 90), confectionery (1704), chocolate (1806), bakery (1905), ice cream (2105), dairy (0402, 0406), and exempt items (paneer, bread).
2. Set the rate for each category from the current notification: 5% for almost everything, Nil for paneer and bread.
3. Keep a separate counter or bill series for dine-in, so restaurant service at 5% without credit is tracked.
4. Print the HSN at the digits your turnover needs (4 digits up to ₹5 crore on B2B bills).
5. Review the rate master on the day any rate notification takes effect.

Food safety and labelling go hand in hand with GST

Pre-packed sweets need FSSAI labelling (ingredients, date of expiry or use-by date, licence number), and the Legal Metrology rules require MRP on retail packs. Since October 2020, loose sweets on display must also show a date up to which they are fit to eat. These are not GST rules, but GST officers check the invoice and the label together during an audit: a pack labelled "chocolate cookies" billed as "namkeen" raises questions even when the rate matches.

Bakeries and cake shops

A bakery selling cakes, pastries, cookies and puffs over the counter sells goods under 1905 at 5% from 22 September 2025, down from 18%. Bread, pizza bread, khakhra and Indian breads like roti and paratha are exempt. Custom cakes made to order for birthdays are still goods at 5%; the decoration is part of the cake. A cafe-bakery that serves coffee and pastries at tables supplies restaurant service at 5% without credit for that part. Cake boxes, candles and party items sold with the cake have their own rates: paper boxes 5%, candles 5% (3406), and plastic party items 18%.

Common mistakes in GST on sweets

Chocolates, cakes and ice cream still at 18%

All three moved to 5% on 22 September 2025. Update the rate master.

Packed namkeen at 12%

The split between loose (5%) and packed (12%) namkeen ended. Both are 5%.

Hampers with non-food items at 5%

A hamper with a decorative item at 18% sold for one price is a mixed supply at 18%.

Credit claimed on dine-in inputs

Restaurant service at 5% comes without credit. Reverse the share of common inputs used for it.

Paneer still charged at 5%

Pre-packed paneer was at 5% until 21 September 2025. It is now exempt, loose or packed, so a dairy-cum-sweet shop should bill it without tax.

Pan masala billed with sweets

Pan masala is at 40% from 1 February 2026. Keep it on a separate line.

GST registration for sweet shops

A sweet shop selling only goods must register once turnover crosses ₹40 lakh a year (₹20 lakh in some special category states). A shop that also serves food at tables is a mixed supplier, and the limit drops to ₹20 lakh. Selling packed sweets online or to other states needs registration from the start. Our GST registration service handles the application, and our tax consultants help sweet shops choose between composition and regular scheme and keep restaurant and counter sales separate. Check other food items in the GST rate finder or the HSN code finder.

Official sources: CBIC rate notifications (Notification 9/2025-Central Tax (Rate), Schedule I S. Nos. 107, 110, 116, 123, 141, 142 and 143; Notification 10/2025-Central Tax (Rate), S. Nos. 17, 100 and 102) · GST portal: Search HSN Code.