What Is HSN Code 8528? GST Rates for TVs, Monitors & Projectors

Let’s be real, most people selling TVs or monitors don’t sit around memorising HSN codes. You’ve got customers to attend to, stock to manage, and invoices piling up. The code gets copied and pasted from an old bill, nobody questions it, and life moves on. Until the GST notice arrives.

So let’s actually understand HSN Code 8528, what it covers, the rates that apply, and how cloud based invoice software saves you from mistakes you didn’t even know you were making. 

What Falls Under HSN Code 8528?

Chapter 85 of the HSN schedule deals with electrical machinery. Within that, 8528 specifically covers display and reception equipment, which in everyday business terms means:

• All types of televisions (LED, OLED, Smart TVs, Android TVs)
• Computer monitors used as standalone display units
• Projectors, whether for a boardroom, classroom, or home theatre
• Set-top boxes and satellite reception devices

If you’re selling, buying, or importing any of these, the code 8528 should be included on your invoice.

The GST Rates of the Products

There isn’t one flat rate for everything under HSN 8528. The government draws a line at 32 inches for televisions, and that line matters more than most sellers realise.

Product	HSN Sub-Code	GST Rate
TV up to 32 inches	8528	18%
TV above 32 inches	8528 59	28%
Computer monitors (larger screens)	8528 22	28%
Projectors	8528 49	18%
Set-top boxes	8528 71	18%
Monochrome monitors	8528 23	18%

A 43-inch TV, a 55-inch TV, and a 75-inch TV all sit at 28%. And yet, plenty of retailers are still billing them at 18% because that’s what was set up in their system years ago, and nobody checked since.

For local sales within your state, split the rate between CGST and SGST equally. Selling to someone in another state? The full rate goes as IGST. This part the billing software usually handles on its own, but only if the HSN code feeding into it is correct in the first place.

How Many Digits Does Your HSN Code Need?

Depends on how big your business is:

• Turnover under ₹5 crore — 4 digits (8528) works
• Turnover above ₹5 crore — you need 6 digits, like 852859
• Importers and exporters — 8 digits, no exceptions

Using fewer digits than required doesn’t just cause a GSTR-1 error on your end — it can block your buyer’s ITC claim. Nothing strains a business relationship faster than your invoice costing someone their input credit.

How does Billing Software help? 

Picture a busy Saturday at an electronics store. Five customers waiting, phones ringing, a delivery guy at the back needing paperwork. In that moment, nobody is looking up HSN codes manually. The billing counter runs at speed.

Good billing software is built exactly for this. You scan the product, it knows it’s a 55-inch Smart TV, pulls HSN Code 8528 59, applies 28%, splits it into CGST and SGST, and prints the invoice in seconds. No one had to think about it.

At the end of the month, when your accountant needs the HSN summary for GSTR-1 Table 12, it’s already compiled. Not something you’re piecing together from memory. And for deliveries above ₹50,000, the e-way bill is generated directly from the invoice, HSN code included,  so there’s no mismatch if goods get checked on the road.

ITC — Yes, No, and It Depends

You can claim input tax credit on these products if they’re genuinely being used for business. A monitor on every employee’s desk is claimable. A projector in your meeting room is also claimable. A TV purchased as stock to resell is absolutely claimable.

A 65-inch TV in your office lounge for employees watching cricket? Blocked under Section 17(5). The line feels thin sometimes, but the law is clear enough.

Keep clean invoices from your suppliers with the correct HSN code. That’s the first thing an auditor asks to see.

Cloud Based Invoice Software: When Your Business Outgrows the Counter

Billing software handles the shop floor beautifully. But the moment you open a second branch, start selling B2B to corporates, or cross the e-invoicing threshold, you need something that works beyond the counter.

That’s where cloud based invoice software fits in. Say a company places a bulk order for 30 monitors across your three showrooms. Cloud-based invoice software handles that as a single invoice, applies IGST because it’s an inter-state supply, sends it to the Invoice Registration Portal for IRN generation, and files the data into your GSTR-1, without your team manually touching four different things.

The other underrated advantage of cloud based invoice software is staying current. GST rates on electronics do get revised. When that happens, a cloud platform updates for every user at once. With offline billing software, you might not catch the change until a client calls asking why your rate looks off.

For Amazon or Flipkart sellers, cloud-based invoice software connected to marketplace APIs is a lifesaver during sale seasons, hundreds of TV orders, all needing correct IRN-stamped invoices, generated fast.

Conclusion

HSN Code 8528 isn’t complicated once the 32-inch rule clicks. TVs below that line attract 18%, above it 28%, and projectors sit at 18% regardless of size. Errors don’t come from confusion; they come from old systems nobody revisited.

Billing software fixes the daily counter problem. Cloud based invoice software such as MargBooks software handles the bigger picture, B2B sales, multiple locations, e-invoicing, and GST filing. Between the two, HSN Code 8528 stops being something that keeps your accountant up at night.