Quilt HSN Code

Understanding the HSN Code for Quilts in India

A quilt, a cozy staple in many households, is more than just a blanket; it’s a piece of bedding with specific classifications under the Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) for Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India. For businesses manufacturing, distributing, or selling quilts, understanding the correct HSN code is vital for accurate tax application and compliance.

The HSN classification for quilts primarily depends on whether it’s a finished product for retail sale or a quilted textile material in the piece, and importantly, its sale value if it’s a finished cotton quilt.

Quilts as Finished Bedding Articles: HSN 9404

Finished quilts, eiderdowns, and duvets, which are articles of bedding stuffed or internally fitted with material, are generally classified under:

• Chapter 94: Furniture; bedding, mattresses, mattress supports, cushions and similar stuffed furnishing; lamps and lighting fittings, not elsewhere specified or included; illuminated signs, illuminated name-plates and the like; prefabricated building.
  • Specifically, within this chapter, for articles of bedding and similar furnishing, the heading 9404: Mattress supports; articles of bedding and similar furnishing (for example, mattresses, quilts, eiderdowns, cushions, pouffes and pillows) fitted with springs or stuffed or internally fitted with any material or of cellular rubber or plastics, whether or not covered.
  For quilts, the HSN classification also takes into account their sale value:
  • 94044010: Quilts (sale value not exceeding Rs. 1000 per piece)
    • These cotton quilts attract a 5% GST. This lower rate aims to make essential bedding more affordable. The effective date for this rate was September 22, 2017.
  • 940440 (various sub-codes or “Other”): Products wholly made of quilted textile materials / Quilts (sale value exceeding Rs. 1000 per piece)
    • Cotton quilts with a sale value exceeding Rs. 1000 per piece and other quilts (not specifically cotton or of higher value) generally attract a 12% GST. This rate was also effective from September 22, 2017.
  • Other sub-headings under 9404, such as 94042910 or 94043010 (for certain types of sleeping bags or other filled articles), often carry an 18% GST, depending on their specific description.

Quilted Textile Products in the Piece: HSN 5811

If the “quilt” refers to quilted textile material sold in bulk or in pieces, rather than a finished bedding article, it would fall under a different chapter:

• Chapter 58: Special woven fabrics; tufted textile fabrics; lace; tapestries; trimmings; embroidery.
  • 5811: Quilted textile products in the piece, composed of one or more layers of textile materials assembled with padding by stitching or otherwise, other than embroidery of heading 5810.
    • This HSN code includes products like “Kantha (multi-layer stitched textile fabrics in pieces used for bedding, mattress pads, clothing, etc.)” and “Quilted wadding”.
    • Quilted textile products in the piece under HSN 5811 attract a 12% GST, effective from July 1, 2017.

Therefore, for businesses, it’s crucial to correctly identify if the item is a finished quilt ready for use as bedding or a raw quilted textile material. The sale value also significantly impacts the GST rate for cotton quilts.