The HSN code 4202 tax rate in India is 18% GST for most products in the heading, but handbags, pouches, purses, and jewellery boxes moved to 5% on September 22, 2025. If you are importing 4202 goods into the United States instead, you are looking at customs duties that run from roughly 3% up to 20%, depending on the sub-heading and the material on the item’s outer surface.
What Falls Under HSN 4202
Heading 4202 covers containers designed to carry, protect, or organize personal items. The list includes trunks, suitcases, vanity cases, executive cases, briefcases, school satchels, spectacle cases, binocular cases, camera cases, musical instrument cases, gun cases, holsters, travelling bags, insulated food and beverage bags, rucksacks, handbags, shopping bags, wallets, purses, map cases, cigarette cases, tobacco pouches, tool bags, sports bags, bottle cases, jewellery boxes, powder boxes, cutlery cases, and similar containers.1Taric Support. Heading 4202 – Trunks, Suitcases, Vanity Cases, Executive-Cases
The heading only applies when the item is made of leather, composition leather, plastic sheeting, textile materials, vulcanised fibre, or paperboard, or is wholly or mainly covered with those materials or with paper. A solid-wood jewellery box, for example, is classified elsewhere. Whether the item has a handle, a shoulder strap, or neither does not affect the classification.
India GST Rate for HSN 4202
Notification No. 1/2017-Central Tax (Rate) placed HSN 4202 items in Schedule III at 9% CGST, which combines with 9% SGST on intra-state sales, or 18% IGST on inter-state sales, for a total GST burden of 18%.2Goods and Services Tax Council. Notification 1/2017-Central Tax (Rate) That 18% rate still applies to suitcases, briefcases, camera cases, sports bags, wallets, rucksacks, tool bags, and most other items in the heading.
Notification No. 9/2025-Central Tax (Rate), effective September 22, 2025, reduced the rate on handbags (including pouches and purses) and jewellery boxes to 5%. The reduction covers sub-headings 4202.22, 4202.29, 4202.31, 4202.32, and 4202.39. Everything else under 4202 remains at 18%. A seller who carries both suitcases and handbags will issue invoices with two different tax rates even though both products sit under the same four-digit heading.
No compensation cess applies to any HSN 4202 product, so GST is the full indirect tax liability on a domestic sale.
How Sub-Heading and Material Change the Rate
The six- and eight-digit extensions of HSN 4202 sort products first by what they are (luggage, handbags, wallets, or other) and then by the outer-surface material. Sub-headings ending in .11, .21, .31, and .91 cover items with an outer surface of leather or composition leather. Those ending in .12, .22, .32, and .92 cover items with an outer surface of plastic sheeting or textile materials.
When more than one material appears on the outer surface, classification follows General Rule of Interpretation 3(b), which assigns the product to the material that gives it its “essential character.” That judgment turns on the nature, bulk, quantity, weight, value, and functional role of each material.3U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CROSS Ruling 952831 Two handbags that look nearly identical can land in different sub-headings if one derives its character from a nylon panel and the other from a leather one. Under the 2025 amendment, that call also matters for GST: a handbag classified in 4202.22 is taxed at 5%, while a briefcase in 4202.11 is still taxed at 18%.
Calculating the Tax You Owe
GST is calculated on the transaction value, meaning the price the buyer actually pays or agrees to pay, provided the buyer and seller are not related and price is the only consideration for the sale.4Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. CGST Act 2017 – Section 15 Value of Taxable Supply Where those conditions are not met, the value has to be determined under the prescribed valuation rules.
Transaction value is more than the sticker price. It includes any taxes or fees imposed under non-GST laws, expenses the buyer incurs on the seller’s behalf, incidental charges such as packing and commission, and any interest or late-payment penalties. Discounts shown on the invoice at the time of sale can be excluded. Post-sale discounts can also be excluded, but only if they were agreed upon before the sale, are tied to specific invoices, and the buyer reverses the input tax credit linked to the discount.
IGST or CGST Plus SGST
Whether you charge IGST or a combined CGST and SGST depends on the supplier’s location and where the goods are delivered. When both are in the same state, the sale is intra-state: 9% CGST plus 9% SGST for suitcases and similar items, or 2.5% plus 2.5% for handbags and jewellery boxes. When the supplier and the place of supply are in different states or union territories, the sale is inter-state and you charge 18% IGST (or 5% IGST for the reduced-rate items).5Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. Section 7 – Inter-State Supply
For goods that involve physical movement, the place of supply is where the movement ends for delivery to the buyer. Without movement, the place of supply is wherever the goods are at the time of delivery. The total tax collected is the same either way; the distinction controls which government receives it and how input tax credits flow.
U.S. Import Duties on HTSUS 4202
If you are importing 4202 goods into the United States, the ad valorem duty varies sharply by sub-heading. Leather-surface luggage under 4202.11 is dutiable at roughly 8% to 10%. Plastic- or textile-surface luggage under 4202.12 ranges from 6.3% for cotton up to 20% for certain structured cases. Handbags follow a similar spread: leather-surface bags under 4202.21 are typically around 8%, while plastic- or textile-surface handbags under 4202.22 range from 5.7% to 17.6% depending on the fiber.6U.S. International Trade Commission. Harmonized Tariff Schedule Man-made fiber products consistently land at the top of the range, while cotton and other natural-fiber goods sit between 5.7% and 10%.
Every formal entry also carries a Merchandise Processing Fee of 0.3464% of the goods’ value, with a floor of $33.58 and a ceiling of $651.50 per entry for fiscal year 2026.7U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Customs User Fee – Merchandise Processing Fees Manual filings add a $4.03 surcharge. These fees apply regardless of the sub-heading but are easy to miss when estimating landed cost.
Reporting HSN 4202 on GSTR-1
HSN codes are reported in Table 12 of GSTR-1. As of May 2025, the GST portal requires taxpayers to select codes from a dropdown rather than typing them, and Table 12 is split into separate tabs for B2B and B2C supplies.8GST Portal. Implementation of Mandatory Mentioning of HSN Codes in GSTR-1 The portal now cross-checks values in Table 12 against other tables of GSTR-1, so inconsistencies produce a warning.
How many HSN digits you report depends on your aggregate annual turnover. Businesses with turnover up to ₹5 crore report at least two-digit codes. Businesses above ₹5 crore report at least four-digit codes, with the portal now expecting six digits. For B2B invoices, the recipient’s GSTIN must appear on the invoice so the buyer can claim input tax credit. If your catalogue mixes 18% items and 5% items under the same 4202 heading, each rate needs its own line in Table 12.