HSN codes for pet products: a reference table for Indian retailers

Every line on a GST invoice needs an HSN code, and a pet shop sells across more chapters of the tariff than almost any other small retailer. Food, leather goods, plastics, toys, cosmetics and medicines, all on one bill.

This is the reference table, followed by the classifications people actually get wrong.

Rates were correct at the last review on 11 August 2026 and slabs were rationalised during 2025. HSN codes are stable; rates are not. Confirm the rate against the current CBIC notification before you file.

The table

Food and treats

Item	HSN	Rate
Prepared dog and cat food, packaged	2309	18%
Dog biscuits and baked treats	2309	18%
Bird feed, prepared	2309	18%
Fish food, prepared	2309	18%
Unprocessed grains sold as feed	1001–1008	Often nil or 5%

Heading 2309 is “preparations of a kind used in animal feeding” and it covers the overwhelming majority of what sits on a pet shop shelf.

Collars, leads and wearables

Item	HSN	Rate
Collars, leads, harnesses, muzzles (saddlery and harness, any material)	4201	18%
Pet clothing, textile	6307	Varies
Identity tags, metal	8310 / 7326	18%

4201 is explicitly “saddlery and harness for any animal”, which is where collars and leads belong regardless of whether they’re leather or nylon.

Bowls, crates, bedding and hardware

Item	HSN	Rate
Plastic bowls, feeders, litter trays	3924	18%
Other plastic articles, crates, carriers	3926	18%
Ceramic bowls	6912	18%
Stainless steel bowls	7323	18%
Textile beds and blankets	6301 / 9404	Varies
Metal cages and crates	7326	18%

Bowls are the classic trap: the code follows the material, not the use. A plastic bowl, a ceramic bowl and a steel bowl are three different headings.

Toys

Item	HSN	Rate
Toys generally	9503	Varies
Rubber chews and balls	4016 / 9503	Depends on classification
Rope and textile tugs	6307 / 9503	Depends

Grooming and cosmetics

Item	HSN	Rate
Shampoos	3305	18%
Other animal toilet preparations	3307	18%
Brushes and combs	9603 / 9615	18%
Clippers, electric	8510	18%
Nail clippers, scissors	8213 / 8214	18%

Health and veterinary

Item	HSN	Rate
Veterinary medicaments, retail packaged	3004	12%
Bulk medicaments	3003	12%
Vaccines, veterinary	3002	5% or 12%
Tick and flea treatments (insecticidal)	3808	18%
Dressings, bandages	3005	12%
Diagnostic kits and reagents	3822	12%

Services

Service	SAC	Rate
Grooming	9993 / 9985	18%
Boarding and daycare	9993 / 9985	18%
Veterinary consultation, registered practitioner	9993	Exempt
Pet transport	9965	Varies

The five classifications people get wrong

1. A tick treatment is not a medicine

This one costs money. A spot-on flea and tick product is usually an insecticide under 3808 at 18%, not a medicament under 3004 at 12%. It sits next to the medicines on your shelf, it comes from your vet wholesaler, and it is taxed like a pesticide, because chemically that’s what it is.

If you’ve been billing spot-ons at 12%, you’ve been under-collecting.

2. Medicated shampoo versus grooming shampoo

A cosmetic shampoo is 3305. A genuinely medicated preparation with a therapeutic claim and a licence may fall under 3004. The bottles look identical on a shelf. If you stock both, get the classification confirmed per product rather than applying one code to the category.

3. Bowls follow their material

Covered above, and worth repeating because most shops use one code for all bowls. Plastic 3924, ceramic 6912, steel 7323.

4. The consultation is exempt, the dispensing is not

In a mixed clinic and shop, one bill can carry an exempt consultation line and a taxable medicine line. They must appear separately. Billing the lot at a single rate is the single most common error in this trade, and it surfaces years later in an assessment.

5. A bundle is not automatically one rate

Sell a “puppy starter pack” of food, a collar and a bowl and you have a mixed supply: different items, no natural bundling, sold for one price. A mixed supply is taxed at the highest rate of anything in it. A composite supply, where one element is clearly principal and the others naturally accompany it, takes the principal item’s rate.

If you sell packs, work out which yours is once, and price accordingly.

Two-digit, four-digit or six-digit?

How many digits you must show depends on turnover:

• Up to ₹5 crore, B2B invoices: 4 digits. B2C is optional.
• Above ₹5 crore: 6 digits on everything.

Even where four is enough, storing six against the product costs nothing and means you don’t have to redo it when you cross the threshold.

Set it on the product, once

The reason HSN errors persist isn’t ignorance, it’s that the decision happens at a counter with a queue. Nobody looks up a tariff heading while a customer waits.

So set it once, on the product. In Fretso’s retail module each item carries its own HSN and rate, and the invoice prints them per line. A basket of food, a spot-on and a groom bills at three treatments without anyone deciding anything.

Then when a rate changes, you change it in one place rather than retraining a counter.

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Last reviewed 11 August 2026. General guidance for pet retailers, not tax advice. Classification can turn on specific product composition and labelling. Confirm with your CA.