GST on Packers and Movers in 2026: Rate, SAC Code, RCM and Bill Format

What is the GST rate on packers and movers after 22 September 2025?

A packers and movers firm that works as a goods transport agency charges GST at 5% with no input tax credit (ITC), or at 18% with ITC if it has opted to pay tax under forward charge. Before 22 September 2025 the higher option was 12%.

The change came from the 56th GST Council meeting. The Council’s PIB press release of 3 September 2025 lists GTA transport of goods moving from “5% without ITC or 12% with ITC” to “5% without ITC or 18% with ITC”, with service rate changes in force from 22 September 2025. Notification 15/2025-Central Tax (Rate) put this into the law by changing the central tax in serial 9, item (iii)(b) of the services rate notification from 6% to 9%.

Within a state the tax splits equally into CGST and SGST, so 5% shows as 2.5% plus 2.5% and 18% as 9% plus 9%; between states it shows as IGST. As of 31 October 2026, Notification 06/2026-Central Tax (Rate), issued after the 57th Council meeting and in force from 1 November 2026, rewords the GTA definition but does not touch these rates.

Is GST applicable on packers and movers at all?

It depends on two things: whether the mover is a goods transport agency, and who the customer is. The rates notification defines a GTA as a person who provides service in relation to transport of goods by road and issues a consignment note, by whatever name called. Its GTA entry expressly includes “used house hold goods for personal use”.

Serial 21A exempts GTA services to an unregistered person other than a factory, society, co-operative society, body corporate, partnership firm or registered casual taxable person. A mover that carries goods by road without issuing a consignment note is not a GTA, and serial 18 of the same exemption notification exempts road transport of goods other than by a GTA or courier agency. How such a mover’s packing charges are then taxed is a question for its CA.

Older articles mention exemptions for small consignments by value. Those clauses were omitted with effect from 18 July 2022.

Are packing, loading and unloading charges taxed separately?

Not when they are part of the move. CBIC has clarified that packing, unpacking, loading, unloading, transshipment and temporary warehousing done by a GTA in the course of road transport are one composite supply of transport of goods.

Circular 234/28/2024-GST of 11 October 2024, issued on the 54th Council’s recommendation, says the method of invoicing will not generally alter the nature of that composite supply. It answered officers who had been demanding 18% on packing or loading lines shown separately on a GTA invoice. The circular also sets the limit: if such services are not provided in the course of transportation and are invoiced separately, they are not part of the composite supply.

• Composite supply: Section 2(30) of the CGST Act defines it as two or more supplies naturally bundled in the ordinary course of business, one of which is the principal supply.
• Tax treatment: Section 8 taxes a composite supply at the rate of its principal supply, here the transport.
• Covered: packing on moving day, loading, unloading, unpacking at the new home and a short warehousing halt on the way.
• Not covered: a packing-only job with no transport, or long-term storage billed on its own, which is taxed under its own entry.

What is the SAC code for packers and movers?

Packers and movers services fall under SAC heading 9965, goods transport services, and the GTA rate is set against that heading in serial 9 of Notification 11/2017-Central Tax (Rate). Services use a SAC; “HSN code for packers and movers” searches usually mean the same thing.

The CBIC explanatory notes to the scheme of classification of services place “household/office goods and furniture removal services” and “ancillary services, such as packing and carrying and in-house moving” under service code 996511, road transport services of goods. The packaging heading 99854 expressly leaves out packing and crating incidental to transport.

Who pays GST under reverse charge on GTA services?

When a GTA has not opted to pay tax itself, the customer pays the 5% under reverse charge, if the customer is on the list in serial 1 of Notification 13/2017-Central Tax (Rate). That list is a factory under the Factories Act, a registered society, a co-operative society, any GST-registered person, a body corporate, a partnership firm (including an AOP or LLP) and a casual taxable person.

Notification 13/2017 carries a proviso, added in 2018, that keeps government departments registered only for tax deduction out of it. Notification 05/2022 adds that reverse charge does not apply where the GTA has opted for forward charge and puts the Annexure III declaration on its invoice.

1. Opting in: a GTA chooses forward charge for a financial year by filing Annexure V between 1 January and 31 March of the previous year, under Notification 06/2023.
2. Staying in: the option carries over to later years unless the GTA files Annexure VI to go back to reverse charge in the same window.
3. New movers: a GTA that starts business or crosses the registration threshold during the year can file Annexure V within 45 days of applying for registration or one month of getting it, whichever is later.
4. On the invoice: a forward-charge GTA states that it has opted to pay tax under forward charge for that year.

Can you claim input tax credit on a mover’s bill?

The no-ITC condition in the 5% option binds the mover, not the customer. A registered business that pays GST on a move for business purposes, on the invoice or under reverse charge, can usually claim it, subject to Section 16 of the CGST Act.

• Mover at 5%: cannot take credit on its own inputs, such as packing material or hired trucks.
• Mover at 18%: can take credit on those inputs, which can suit a mover with heavy GST-paid costs and mostly business customers.
• Business customer: needs a tax invoice with its GSTIN and the conditions of Section 16 met; tax paid under reverse charge is also claimed by the business itself.
• Household customer: cannot claim any credit.

The worked example, in plain units: on a freight of 100, the 5% option adds 5 and the 18% option adds 18. Under reverse charge the mover’s bill shows 100 and the business customer pays the 5 to the government itself. The same credit logic applies to other business bills, such as GST on Google Ads invoices.

What should a packers and movers GST bill show?

A mover’s tax invoice must carry the particulars in Rule 46 of the CGST Rules, and a GTA also issues a consignment note, which is what makes it a GTA. The main points from Rule 46 are listed below. Where the move is exempt, Section 31(3)(c) says a registered supplier issues a bill of supply instead of a tax invoice.

• Mover’s name, address and GSTIN, a unique serial number and the date
• Customer’s name, address and GSTIN if registered
• SAC code and a description such as household goods shifting from one city to another
• Taxable value, rate and amount of CGST and SGST, or IGST
• Place of supply with the state name for an inter-state supply
• Whether tax is payable on reverse charge
• The forward-charge declaration, if the GTA has opted for it
• Signature or digital signature

Searches for a “packers and movers bill for claim” usually come from employees whose company reimburses a transfer. A claim should rest on the actual invoice and consignment note issued by the mover that did the job, checked against the list above. A mover’s CA can confirm the exact format for its registration.

Showing your GSTIN, your consignment note and how you bill GST on your website is also a trust signal for corporate clients, as our guide to trust signals for movers’ websites explains.

How DVM Techno Can Help

DVM Techno is a web development company in Sector 84, Gurgaon, with a branch in Kasni, Jhajjar. Our packers and movers website design includes an instant quote form for move from, move to, home size and date, with enquiries sent to WhatsApp and email, plus separate pages for household shifting, office relocation, car and bike transport, storage and city routes. When quotes pile up, a CRM for packers and movers tracks each one through survey, booking and delivery. Your GST treatment stays with your CA.

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