The Kerala Authority for Advance Ruling has held that printing of religious books or extracts thereof (Bible, Quran, Bhagavad Gita and similar texts), where the content is provided by the customer or sourced from the public domain and the paper, ink and consumables are supplied by the printer, constitutes a composite supply of printing services classifiable under SAC 9989, taxable at 18% GST under Entry No. 27(ii) of Notification No. 11/2017-CT (Rate), and not a supply of goods classifiable under Chapter 49 eligible for nil or concessional rate. The ruling by Members Jomy Jacob and Mansur M.I. in KER/13/2026 (M/s Ebenezer Printpack Pvt. Ltd., decided 07.08.2026) also clarified that where both paper and content are supplied by the customer, the activity is classifiable under SAC 9988 (manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others) but qualifies as ‘job work’ only if the customer is a registered person under GST — otherwise it is ‘treatment or process on goods belonging to another person’.
The AAR relied on CBIC Circular No. 11/11/2017-GST which clarified that where the printer uses his own physical inputs including paper but the content is supplied by the publisher, the principal supply is the service of printing and the supply of paper is ancillary. The same principle applies where content is sourced from the public domain. The concessional rate of 5% under Entry 26(ii)(e)/(v)(a) is available only for printing of newspapers, books (including Braille), journals and periodicals by way of job work or treatment/process; and under Entry 26(ii)(f)/(v)(b) for printing of goods falling under Chapters 48 or 49 which themselves attract central tax at 2.5% or nil. The residual rate of 18% applies to all other cases. The religious or spiritual nature of the content does not alter the classification.
- 2026-juristway.com-2583-AAR(Kerala)-GST | AAR Kerala | KER/13/2026 | 07.08.2026