Three per cent on the piece, making charges included.

In short: nothing changed in September 2025. Polished diamonds went from 0.25 to 1.5% in July 2022, so an older rate list is wrong. An emerald or ruby is 0.25%, cut or not.

In short: on your bill to a customer, making is taxed at 3% with the metal. On a karigar's bill to you, it is a 5% service.

Selling the piece. CBIC's gems and jewellery FAQ says GST is 3% of the total value. Making may sit on its own line, but not at 5 or 18%.

A karigar (craftsman) working your metal supplies job work, a service under heading 9988.

• A registered karigar charges 5% on labour only; you claim it back as ITC (input tax credit).
• Job work on diamonds is 1.5%, since 1 October 2019.
• Your metal goes out tax-free on a delivery challan under Section 143, returns within a year, and is reported on ITC-04.

The FAQ says you pay an unregistered karigar's tax by reverse charge (you pay the GST, not the seller). That was under the old Section 9(4). Since 1 February 2019 it covers only notified buyers, and we found none for jewellers. Ask your CA before dropping a reverse-charge line.

Repairing a customer's ornament is an ordinary service. 18% is widely quoted, but we could not tie it to a notification entry.

In short: no reverse charge on a customer's old gold. Tax the new piece in full, then deduct the old gold.

Buying old gold. CBIC's press release of 13 July 2017 says a person selling their own jewellery owes none. It says an unregistered dealer would attract it, but that predates the 2019 change to Section 9(4). Get your CA's view in writing.

Exchange. Under Section 15 and Rule 27, the new piece is worth the cash plus the old gold. Tax that value.

Reselling old pieces. Rule 32(5) allows tax on the margin for unchanged second-hand goods. Karnataka's advance ruling authority allowed it for cleaned and polished jewellery, and refused it in 2023 for melted jewellery. Rulings bind only the applicant.

In short: GST on bullion, stones, karigar work, hallmarking and certificates is credit, once the bill is in your GSTR-2B.

• Bullion and stones from a registered supplier: 3%, 1.5% or 0.25%, all credit. On imported gold, the IGST paid at customs shows in GSTR-2B from ICEGATE.
• Karigar job work at 5%, hallmarking and certificates at 18% are credit too. They can leave more credit than your 3% sales use. The inverted-duty refund under Section 54(3) counts input goods only, not these services, so that credit carries forward.
• Old gold from a customer carries no GST, so no credit.
• Goods given away, such as silver coins gifted at Diwali: credit blocked under Section 17(5)(h). Reverse it.
• Before you claim, the supplier's bill must be in GSTR-2B (Section 16(2)(aa)).

In short: GST does not ask for the HUID; hallmarking rules do. One invoice can carry both.

Hallmarking became compulsory in notified districts on 23 June 2021, under the Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts Order 2020. Since 1 April 2023 the mark is the six-digit alphanumeric HUID (hallmark unique ID). About 380 districts were covered by a phase reported in March 2026; check BIS for yours.

BIS rules, as commonly summarised, expect description, net weight, purity and hallmarking charge on the bill; we could not confirm the notified text. Put HSN (product code), net weight, purity and HUID on each tax invoice line.

In short: no e-way bill (online permit to move goods) for gold, stones or jewellery of Chapter 71, except in Kerala.

Rule 138(14) exempts its annexure goods; items 4 and 5 cover precious metals, stones and jewellery of Chapter 71. Ask your CA how this applies to other goods you move, against the usual thresholds.

Rule 138F, added in August 2023, lets a state require Part A for in-state movement above a value of at least ₹2 lakh. Kerala does, from 20 January 2025, at ₹10 lakh and above, except counter sales to consumers. We found no other state.

E-invoices are separate. A wholesaler whose turnover passed ₹5 crore in any year since 2017-18 must report every B2B bill to the IRP. Counter sales to consumers are outside it.

In short: tax first, then deduct the old gold. Deducting first and taxing the ₹40,000 difference gives ₹1,200 of GST instead of ₹3,360. The ₹2,160 gap, plus 18% interest under Section 50, falls on the jeweller.