GST billing for jewellery shops: a plain guide

GST on jewellery is 3%

Gold, silver and diamond jewellery all come under HSN 7113, and the GST on them is 3%. That rate stayed the same when many other GST rates changed in September 2025.

The 3% is charged on the taxable value: the metal value plus the making charge, plus any stones or other charges sold with the piece. Rates on a rate board are usually before GST.

Example: a piece has ₹1,00,000 of metal and a 12% making charge. The taxable value is ₹1,12,000, the GST is ₹3,360, and the total is ₹1,15,360. Try your own figures in the gold GST calculator.

How making charges are taxed

Making charge on the same bill as the piece. When you sell a finished piece, the making charge is part of its price. It is taxed at the same 3% as the metal, even if the bill shows it on its own line.

Job work for another jeweller. When a karigar or workshop makes jewellery from gold that belongs to a registered jeweller and bills only for the work, that is job work. GST on job work for gold and silver jewellery is 5% (2.5% CGST + 2.5% SGST). Job work on diamonds has its own rate of 1.5%.

Making from a customer’s own gold. When a private customer gives you their gold and you charge only for making, the treatment is argued about, and shops handle it differently. Check with your CA before you bill it.

CGST and SGST, or IGST

The 3% is the same either way. What changes is how the bill shows it.

Same state: the customer takes the piece in your state, or is a business registered in your state. The bill shows CGST 1.5% and SGST 1.5%.

Other state: the piece goes to a customer or business in another state. The bill shows one line, IGST 3%, and names the place of supply.

A walk-in customer from another state who buys and takes the piece at your counter is usually a same-state sale. If you deliver to another state, it is IGST. When unsure, ask your CA.

What goes on a valid tax invoice

• Your shop’s name, address and GSTIN.
• A bill number in one or more series, unique for the financial year, up to 16 characters.
• The date of the bill.
• For a registered buyer (B2B): their name, address and GSTIN.
• For a buyer without GSTIN (B2C): their name, address and state when the taxable value is ₹50,000 or more, or below that if they ask for it.
• The HSN code, a description of each piece, the quantity, the taxable value, the GST rate and the tax amount.
• The place of supply, with the state name, for a sale to another state.
• Your signature or digital signature.

HSN codes and the HSN summary

Jewellery of gold, silver and other precious metals is HSN 7113. If your turnover last year was up to ₹5 crore, B2B bills need at least the 4-digit code; above ₹5 crore, every bill needs 6 digits. Your CA will tell you the full code to use.

Every month, GSTR-1 asks for an HSN summary: the value and tax for each HSN code, with B2B and B2C sales shown separately. If your bills carry the right codes, this summary is simple to make.

Old gold exchange and GST

When a customer brings old gold and you weigh it, test its purity and value it at your old gold rate, they are selling it to you. A private person selling their own jewellery is not in business, so they don’t charge you GST. Work out the value with the old gold exchange calculator.

The question is the new piece. The GST rules say that when part of the payment is not money, the value of the sale is its normal price. The official example is a new phone sold with an old phone in exchange: GST is on the new phone’s price without the exchange. Read the same way, GST on new jewellery is on its full value, and the old gold is part of how the customer pays.

Some shops have treated it differently in the past. This is your CA’s call, so agree it with them and bill the same way every time.

B2B bills and e-invoices (IRN)

A B2B bill goes to a buyer with a GSTIN, such as another jeweller. A B2C bill goes to a customer without one. Both are GST bills; GSTR-1 reports them in different places.

E-invoicing means sending each B2B bill to the government’s invoice portal, which gives it an IRN and a QR code. It applies when your aggregate turnover crossed ₹5 crore in any financial year from 2017-18. It covers B2B bills, not bills to walk-in customers.

If your turnover is ₹10 crore or more, e-invoices must be reported within 30 days of the bill date. Your CA will know whether this applies to you.

Monthly returns, cash limits and records for your CA

GSTR-1 lists your sales: B2B bills one by one, B2C sales in total, and the HSN summary. GSTR-3B is the summary return where you pay the tax. Monthly filers usually file GSTR-1 by the 11th and GSTR-3B by the 20th of the next month. Smaller shops can choose quarterly returns. Your CA or munim knows your dates.

Cash: do not take ₹2 lakh or more in cash from one customer in a day, for one bill, or for one occasion, such as a wedding order paid over several visits. Take the rest by UPI, card, cheque or bank transfer. This is section 186 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (earlier section 269ST), and the penalty can be as large as the cash taken.

PAN: income-tax rules have long asked for the buyer’s PAN, or a Form 60, for a sale above ₹2 lakh in one bill. The rules were renumbered in 2026, so confirm the current form with your CA.

Records: keep every bill, including cancelled ones, with no gaps in the numbers. Keep purchase bills, old gold slips, the day book and the sales register. Many CAs keep the books in Tally, so an export saves typing.

How CaratOS helps

• Every bill is a GST bill: 3% as CGST and SGST, or IGST when the customer is in another state, decided by your shop’s state, with HSN codes and the HUID on each line.
• Invoice numbers without gaps, and every bill number, GSTIN and place of supply checked before the figures go to your CA.
• Old gold on the same bill: weigh the old piece, enter its tested purity, and it is valued at your own old gold rate for the day.
• A GST summary by month with the GSTR-1, GSTR-3B and HSN figures, the day book and the sales register, with an Excel export. See GST and your CA.
• A free read-only login for your CA or munim on every plan. They see the reports and GST figures; they can’t change a bill.
• Tally export on Starter. Growth adds Tally live sync, the GSTR-1 file for the portal and GST e-invoices with IRN.
• To see it with your own bills, book a demo, or read the billing software guide.

Questions shop owners ask