Every week a studio owner asks me some version of the same question: "what GST rate do I charge on interior design work?" And every week the honest answer starts with "it depends on what exactly you're supplying", which nobody wants to hear at first, but stay with me, because once you see the structure it's actually quite simple, and getting it right is the difference between a clean filing season and a scrutiny notice.
So let me lay out the rates, the rules, and the mistakes I see studios make, in plain English, the way I'd explain it across a table.
The headline number: 18% on design services
Pure interior design services, meaning your design fee, consultation charges, drawings, 3D renders, site supervision billed as a professional service, attract 18% GST. That's the rate. It sits under SAC code 995443 for interior decoration and design, and I've broken down the code logic separately in my guide to HSN and SAC codes for interior design, so I won't repeat the whole taxonomy here.
The 18% splits depending on geography. If your studio and the place of supply are in the same state, you bill 9% CGST plus 9% SGST. If they're in different states, you bill 18% IGST as one line. The client pays the same total either way, but the split has to be right, because a wrong split breaks your return and the client's input tax credit both.
Where it stops being one number
Here's the catch, and it's where most of the confusion lives: an interior project is almost never a pure service. You're usually supplying goods too, furniture, modular units, tiles, lighting, fabric, and every one of those goods carries its own HSN code and its own rate. So a single project can legitimately have lines at different rates on the same invoice.
| What you're supplying | Nature | Typical GST rate |
|---|---|---|
| Design fee, consultation, drawings | Service (SAC 995443) | 18% |
| Site supervision billed separately | Service | 18% |
| Wooden furniture, modular units | Goods (own HSN) | 18% |
| Turnkey fit-out, design plus execution as one contract | Works contract, treated as service | 18% |
| Mattresses, some furnishing items | Goods (own HSN) | Varies by item |
Rates on specific goods do get revised in GST Council meetings, so before you commit a rate to a big BOQ, check the current schedule on CBIC-GST or run the item through an HSN/SAC code lookup rather than trusting a rate you used eight months ago. I've watched a studio quote a 40-lakh turnkey job with an outdated rate on one big line item, and that 2% gap came straight out of their margin because the client had signed on a total.
The other big fork in the road is the turnkey contract. When design and execution are bundled into one indivisible price on immovable property, the whole thing can qualify as a works contract, which GST treats as a service at 18%, and that changes your invoicing and your client's credit position quite a lot. That topic deserves its own space, so I wrote it up fully in GST on turnkey interiors and works contracts. If you do even one turnkey project a year, read it.
Do you need to charge GST at all?
Quick threshold check, because not everyone does. If your aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year (₹10 lakh in special category states), GST registration is mandatory. Below that it's optional, though many studios register early anyway because corporate and builder clients prefer vendors who can pass on input credit.
There's also a lesser-known option for smaller service providers: a 6% scheme for services up to ₹50 lakh turnover, but you can't collect tax from clients or claim input credit under it, so for a studio buying lots of taxable materials it's usually a bad trade. Sit with your CA on this one, and while you're at it make sure your income tax side is aligned too, because the Income Tax portal and your GST returns get cross-matched more and more these days, and mismatches between the two are what trigger questions.
The five mistakes I keep seeing on studio invoices
Let me be honest, the rate itself is rarely the problem. The problems are in the application, and these five come up again and again:
- One flat 18% on everything without line-splitting. If you supplied goods at different rates, each line needs its own HSN and rate. Lumping it all as "interior work, 18%" is the fastest way to a query.
- CGST/SGST when it should be IGST. Your office is in Delhi, the client's flat is in Gurugram, and for property-linked services the place of supply is where the property is, so that's an inter-state supply and IGST applies. Studios near state borders get this wrong constantly.
- Forgetting GST on advances for services. You took a 50% advance in March and invoiced in May, but for services the tax liability on that advance arose when you received it.
- Charging GST on reimbursements inconsistently. If you're buying materials as the client's pure agent, that's one treatment. If you're buying and reselling with markup, that's supply, and it's taxable. Pick a structure and paper it properly.
- Breaking the invoice number series. Deleted invoices and gaps in the series look terrible during scrutiny, even when nothing is actually wrong.
Key takeaways
- Design services are 18% GST under SAC 995443, that part is simple
- Goods you supply carry their own HSN codes and rates, so split the lines
- Turnkey bundles can become works contracts, a different animal entirely
- Place of supply for property-linked work is the property's location, not the client's address
- Advances on services are taxable when received, not when invoiced
Why this goes wrong in practice, and the fix
Here's the pattern behind almost every mess above: the quote lives in Excel, the invoice gets made fresh in Tally or Word at month-end, and a human re-types everything in between. Every re-type is a chance to pick the wrong rate, drop a line, or fumble the CGST/IGST call at 11pm.
The fix isn't a smarter spreadsheet, it's removing the gap entirely. In Designa, you spec the project room by room, the client approves the quote online, and that same approved quote becomes a compliant GST invoice in one click, with SAC and HSN codes carried through, the CGST/SGST-versus-IGST split handled from your registration state and the place of supply, and the invoice series kept unbroken automatically. Then it syncs to Tally or Zoho Books so your accountant reconciles instead of re-typing. This is the core of why I keep saying one connected system beats five disconnected tools, and it's also why your monthly books stop being a horror show, something I unpack in bookkeeping basics for an interior studio.
If you want the full ground-up picture beyond just rates, registration, returns, credits and all, my longer guide to GST for interior designers in India walks through the whole landscape.
Frequently asked questions
What is the GST rate on interior design services in India?
18%, under SAC code 995443. Intra-state work splits into 9% CGST plus 9% SGST, inter-state work is billed as 18% IGST.
Is the GST rate different for turnkey interior projects?
Turnkey design-plus-execution contracts on immovable property are usually treated as works contracts, taxed at 18% as a service, but the contract structure matters, so confirm with your CA.
Do I charge GST on furniture I supply to a client?
Yes, and each item carries its own HSN code and rate, most furniture at 18%. Split the invoice line by line rather than lumping everything under one rate.
When does an interior designer need GST registration?
When aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year (₹10 lakh in special category states), or earlier voluntarily if your clients want input credit.
Is GST payable on advances from interior clients?
For services, yes, the liability arises when you receive the advance, not when you raise the final invoice.
Get the rate structure right once, wire your quote and invoice into one flow, and this whole topic goes from monthly stress to a non-event. If you'd rather see that flow than imagine it, the live demo is at demo.designa.work, and the founding offer, one flat price for the whole studio, billed in rupees, sits at go.designa.work.