Calculate CGST, SGST, and IGST components instantly in both inclusive and exclusive tax modes
Goods and Services Tax (GST) is India's unified indirect tax on the supply of goods and services. The rate structure changed significantly on 22 September 2025, when the GST Council removed the 12% and 28% slabs. If you learned GST under the old 5/12/18/28 structure, the slabs below are what actually applies now.
Following the 56th GST Council meeting, GST in India runs on four main rates, plus two narrow special rates:
| Rate | Applies to |
|---|---|
| 0% (Nil) | Essential goods, certain foods, individual life and health insurance premiums, and other exempt items |
| 5% | Everyday goods and services, most items that used to sit at 12% |
| 18% | The standard rate — most goods and services, including professional and consulting services, IT services, electronics, and most items that used to sit at 28% |
| 40% | Luxury and "sin" goods — tobacco, pan masala, aerated drinks, premium cars, and similar demerit goods |
| 3% (special rate) | Gold, silver, and jewellery |
| 0.25% (special rate) | Rough diamonds |
The 12% and 28% slabs no longer exist. Most items that were at 12% moved to 5%, and most items that were at 28% moved to 18%, with a short list of luxury and sin goods moved to the new 40% rate instead.
If you provide professional services — consulting, IT, design, writing, marketing, or similar — the practical answer is simple: your GST rate is still 18%. This reform mainly restructured rates on goods; the standard 18% rate on services was largely unaffected. Freelancer and consultant services fall under SAC code 9983 and related codes, and continue to be taxed at 18% unless a specific service is separately listed at a different rate.
If your work involves both services and the sale of physical goods (for example, a designer who also sells printed merchandise), the goods portion of an invoice may now fall under a different slab than before — check the specific item against the current rate list rather than assuming your old rate still applies.
This part of GST is unchanged by the reform. The mechanism for splitting a given rate between central and state government stays the same regardless of which slab applies:
So an 18% intra-state sale splits into 9% CGST and 9% SGST. An 18% inter-state sale is charged as 18% IGST in full.
A freelance consultant invoices a client ₹50,000 for services, GST-exclusive, within the same state.
The same invoice to a client in a different state would show ₹9,000 as IGST instead of the CGST/SGST split, with the same total.
A few things worth double-checking on your own invoicing and pricing if you set them up before the reform:
No, both were formally abolished from 22 September 2025. Items that were taxed at those rates have moved to 5%, 18%, or 40%, depending on the specific item.
18%, the same as before the reform. Professional and consulting services were largely unaffected by the September 2025 changes, which focused on goods.
For sales within the same state, GST splits equally between CGST and SGST. For sales between states, the full amount is charged as IGST. This mechanism didn't change in the 2025 reform — only the rate slabs did.
To add GST to a base amount (exclusive mode), multiply by the rate and add it to the base. To extract GST from a total that already includes tax (inclusive mode), divide the total by (1 + rate) to find the base, then subtract to find the GST portion.
Very likely outdated. A lot of content published before September 2025 hasn't been updated. Always check the rate against a current source before relying on it for an invoice.
Explore our complete collection of Goods and Services Tax tools, state rate breakdowns, and compliance handbooks. Calculate CGST, SGST, and IGST splits across all standard tax slabs, generate GST-compliant invoices, and follow step-by-step guidance for freelance filings.
The calculations and reports provided on this tool are estimates for general reference. Please consult with a certified Chartered Accountant (CA) or qualified tax advisor to verify your tax liabilities before filing your returns.
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