Commission services in retail trade, including fee based retail trade services, are treated as intermediary or commission agent services under GST. Earlier, different ways of showing commission, discounts and trade margins sometimes produced different effective tax outcomes for similar arrangements, which made compliance more difficult for agents and principals.
After the September 2025 changes, most commission and fee based retail trade services under SAC 996211 generally come under the 18 percent slab with input tax credit. This standard rate applies where agents earn commission for arranging sales without owning the goods, unless a specific notification prescribes a different rate or exemption for a particular scheme.
The table below summarises the present GST rate for services under SAC code 996211.