The West Bengal Authority for Advance Ruling (WBAAR) has ruled that laundry soap bars weighing less than 500 grams do not qualify for the concessional 5% GST rate introduced for toilet soap under Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate). Instead, the products will continue to attract GST at 18% (9% CGST and 9% SGST), holding that laundry soap and toilet soap are distinct products under the GST framework. 

The advance ruling application was filed by a manufacturer of laundry soap bars weighing less than 500 grams and classified under HSN 34011942. The applicant sought clarification on whether the revised 5% GST rate applicable to toilet soap from September 22, 2025, could also be extended to its laundry soap products. 

The applicant argued that its laundry soap bars contain Total Fatty Matter (TFM) exceeding 60%, thereby satisfying the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications for toilet soap. It further contended that both toilet soap and laundry soap are manufactured through the same saponification process using similar raw materials and machinery, making them chemically comparable.

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Swadeshi Soap Industries also maintained that in rural India, consumers frequently use the same soap bar for both bathing and washing clothes. Since the GST notification specifically excludes only industrial soap from the concessional entry, the applicant argued that laundry soap with TFM exceeding 60% should also qualify as “toilet soap” for the purpose of the reduced 5% GST rate. 

The Authority rejected the applicant’s submissions, observing that toilet soap and laundry soap are commercially, chemically and functionally different products despite both being manufactured through the process of saponification.

According to the Authority, toilet soap is formulated primarily for personal hygiene and skin cleansing, containing ingredients that are gentle on the skin and maintain balanced pH levels. Laundry soap, on the other hand, is specially formulated for cleaning fabrics and removing tough stains, grease and dirt, with distinct chemical compositions and performance characteristics. 

The Bench also declined to accept the argument based on common parlance. It observed that consumers generally distinguish between toilet soap and laundry soap and purchase them for different purposes. Merely because some consumers may use laundry soap for bathing does not alter the commercial identity of the product. 

The Authority further examined the Bureau of Indian Standards specifications for both toilet soap (IS 2888:2004) and laundry soap (IS 285:1992). It found that although the applicant’s product had a TFM of 62%, several other mandatory technical parameters differ between toilet soap and laundry soap, including the presence of unsaponified fatty matter, glycerol, free carbonated alkali, lather characteristics and permissible limits for other constituents.

Accordingly, the Bench held that similarity in TFM alone cannot convert a product marketed and sold as laundry soap into toilet soap. 

The Authority also relied upon the Customs Tariff Act, 1975, noting that toilet soap and laundry soap are classified under separate tariff entries.

While toilet soap falls under tariff sub-heading 340111, laundry soap weighing less than 500 grams is specifically classified under tariff item 34011942. This separate classification clearly demonstrates that the legislature intended to treat the two products differently for taxation purposes. 

The WBAAR held that the concessional GST rate of 5% is not applicable to laundry soap bars weighing less than 500 grams. Laundry soap classifiable under HSN 34011942 is taxable at 18% GST (9% CGST + 9% SGST) under Serial No. 66 of Schedule II of Notification No. 01/2017-Central Tax (Rate), as amended by Notification No. 09/2025-Central Tax (Rate). 

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