9965 SAC Code: Goods transport services
SAC Code 9965, pertains to the services offered by Goods Transport Agencies (GTAs) for the transportation of goods. This code encompasses the transport of various items, including used household goods for personal use. GTAs are entities engaged in road transportation that issue consignment notes.
Book A Demo
Scope of SAC Code 9965
SAC Code 9965 encompasses transportation services provided by Goods Transport Agencies (GTAs) for the movement of goods by road. It includes the transport of various goods, including used household items for personal use, and requires the issuance of a consignment note.
Categorisation of SAC Code 9965
SAC Code 9965 under GST can be classified in the following ways:
| SAC Code | Description | Old GST Rate (till 21 Sep 2025) |
New GST Rate (from 22 Sep 2025) |
Notes on change / inclusions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9965 | Services by way of transportation of goods – (a) by road except the services ofÑ (i) a goods transportation agency; (ii) a courier agency; (b) by inland waterways. Explanation.- Ògoods transport agencyÓ means any person who provides service in relation to transport of goods by road and issues consignment note, by whatever name called. | 0% without ITC | 0% without ITC | Covers own account truckers and normal road carriers who do not issue a consignment note, and transport by inland waterways. This has been fully exempt from GST and continues as such. Only GTA and courier services are excluded from this exemption. |
| 9965 | Services provided by a goods transport agency to an unregistered person, including an unregistered casual taxable person, other than the following recipients, namely: – (a) any factory registered under or governed by the Factories Act, 1948(63 of 1948); or (b) any Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (21 of 1860) or under any other law for the time being in force in any part of India; or (c) any Co-operative Society established by or under any law for the time being in force; or (d) any body corporate established, by or under any law for the time being in force; or (e) any partnership firm whether registered or not under any law including association of persons; (f) any casual taxable person registered under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act or the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act or the State Goods and Services Tax Act or the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act. | 0% without ITC | 0% without ITC | Goods transport agency services given to unregistered individuals and entities outside the specified categories (factory, society, company, firm, etc.) are exempt. No rate change under GST 2.0 for this exemption entry. |
| 9965 | Services by way of transportation of goods by an aircraft from a place outside India upto the customs station of clearance in India. | 0% without ITC | 0% without ITC | Import freight by air up to the Indian customs station has been kept under a special exemption window through specific notifications. That treatment is continued; for your SAC table it is correct to show 0% with the time bound nature of the exemption explained in the content, not in the rate cell. |
| 9965 | Services by way of transportation by rail or a vessel from one place in India to another of the following goods: (a) relief materials meant for victims of natural or man-made disasters, calamities, accidents or mishap; (b) defence or military equipments; (c) newspaper or magazines registered with the Registrar of Newspapers; (d) railway equipments or materials; (e) agricultural produce; (f) milk, salt and food grain including flours, pulses and rice; and (g) organic manure. | 0% without ITC | 0% without ITC | Targeted exemption for essential / socially important goods moved by rail or vessel between places in India. These items were notified as exempt and remain exempt after the service slab rationalisation. |
| 9965 | Services provided by a goods transport agency, by way of transport in a goods carriage of – (a) agricultural produce; (b) goods, where consideration charged for the transportation of goods on a consignment transported in a single carriage does not exceed 1500 Rs. (c) goods, where consideration charged for transportation of all such goods for a single consignee does not exceed 750 Rs; (d) milk, salt and food grain including flour, pulses and rice; (e) organic manure; (f) newspaper or magazines registered with the Registrar of Newspapers; (g) relief materials meant for victims of natural or man-made disasters, calamities, accidents or mishap; or (h) defence or military equipments. Explanation.- Ògoods transport agencyÓ means any person who provides service in relation to transport of goods by road and issues consignment note, by whatever name called. | 0% without ITC | 0% without ITC | GTA services are exempt where either (a) the goods fall in the notified list (agri produce, milk, food grains, organic manure, etc.) or (b) the consignment / consignee value conditions (₹1,500 per carriage / ₹750 per consignee) are satisfied. This exemption continues under GST 2.0. |
| 9965 | Transport of goods in a vessel | 5% with ITC | 5% with ITC | General domestic transport of goods by vessel is under a concessional 5% slab. ITC is allowed in line with conditions for this entry (primarily on input services and with usual blocked credit rules). No change to this main rate in the new slab structure. |
| 9965 | Transport of goods in containers by rail by any person other than Indian Railways. | 12% with ITC | 18% with ITC | Containerised rail freight by private / non railway operators has been in the 12% with ITC band. Under GST 2.0, 12% is removed as a general services slab and such entries are aligned to the standard 18% with ITC rate. Concessional / exempt treatment for certain specified goods by rail continues separately under other entries. |
| 9965 | Services of goods transport agency (GTA) in relation to transportation of goods (including used household goods for personal use). Explanation.- goods transport agency means any person who provides service in relation to transport of goods by road and issues consignment note, by whatever name called | 5% without ITC | 5% without ITC | Generic GTA services in relation to transport of goods (including used household goods), where no specific exemption applies, follow the concessional 5% without ITC scheme as the typical working rate. An optional higher rate with full ITC that earlier used the 12% slab is now aligned to 18% with ITC; your table can keep that nuance in the content, with 5% as the headline rate here. |
| 9965 | Services of goods transport agency (GTA) in relation to transportation of goods (including used household goods for personal use). Explanation.- Ògoods transport agencyÓ means any person who provides service in relation to transport of goods by road and issues consignment note, by whatever name called | 5% without ITC | 5% without ITC | Same SAC and same description repeated in your source list. The applicable rate and conditions are identical to the previous row: normal GTA operations at 5% without ITC as the common working scheme, with the full-credit option shifting from 12% to 18%. |
| 9965 | (vi) Multimodal transportation of goods. Explanation.- (a) “multimodal transportation” means carriage of goods, by at least two different modes of transport from the place of acceptance of goods to the place of delivery of goods by a multimodal transporter; (b) “mode of transport” means carriage of goods by road, air, rail, inland waterways or sea; (c) “multimodal transporter” means a person who,- (A) enters into a contract under which he undertakes to perform multimodal transportation against freight; and (B) acts as principal, and not as an agent either of the consignor, or consignee or of the carrier participating in the multimodal transportation and who assumes responsibility for the performance of the said contract. | 12% with ITC | 18% with ITC | Multimodal transport was placed in the 12% with ITC bracket. Under the new three slab framework, this moves into the standard 18% with ITC bucket, while certain concessional 5% treatments for specific legs / configurations continue separately. For your SAC notes, highlight that the multimodal transporter acts as principal and assumes full responsibility for the end-to-end transport. |
| 9965 | Other Goods transport services | 18% with ITC | 18% with ITC | Any goods transport service that does not fall under the specific exempt, concessional or special entries above is treated as a standard rated service at 18% with ITC. There is no change to this residual treatment in GST 2.0. |
| 9965 | Transportation of natural gas through pipeline | 12% with ITC | 18% with ITC | Transport of natural gas by pipeline is part of the group of 12% services that have been rationalised. The old 12% with ITC rate is replaced by 18% with ITC from 22 Sep 2025, except where a specific concessional or contract based arrangement is separately notified. |
| 9965 | Transportation of [natural gas, petroleum crude, motor spirit (commonly known as petrol), high speed diesel or aviation turbine fuel]substituted on 26/01/2018 through pipeline | 12% with ITC | 18% with ITC | This broader pipeline entry covering natural gas and specified petroleum products also sat at 12% with ITC earlier. In line with the 12% slab removal for services, it migrates to the standard 18% with ITC rate in the new structure, while any specific transitional / project contracts follow separate transitional rules. |
| 9965 | Services by way of transportation of goods by an aircraft from customs station of clearance in India to a place outside India. Nothing contained in this serial number shall apply after the 30th day of September, 2019(2018 substituted on 27.07.2018). | 18% with ITC | 18% with ITC | The notification text you have records a time bound exemption up to 30 Sep 2019. After that date, export air freight falls back to the normal services rate, i.e. 18% with ITC. GST 2.0 does not introduce a new concessional slab here; your notes can mention the past exemption period separately from the current rate. |
| 9965 | Services by way of transportation of goods by a vessel from customs station of clearance in India to a place outside India. Nothing contained in this serial number shall apply after the 30th day of September, 2019(2018 substituted on 27.07.2018). | 18% with ITC | 18% with ITC | Similarly, export ocean freight from Indian customs stations to destinations abroad enjoyed a specific exemption up to 30 Sep 2019. Post that, the service is taxable at the standard 18% with ITC slab in the absence of a fresh exemption. The 56th Council’s service rationalisation keeps it at 18%. |
| 996511 | Road transport services of Goods including letters, parcels, live animals, household & office furniture, containers etc by refrigerator vehicles, trucks, trailers, man or animal drawn vehicles or any other vehicles.(other than GTA) | 5% without ITC / 12% with ITC / 18% with ITC | 5% without ITC / 18% with ITC | Historically goods transport services under this code could be taxed at 5% without ITC or 12% with ITC (and 18% for certain cases). Post 56th Council rationalisation for logistics, concessional 5% without ITC is retained, while the 12% full-ITC option is migrated to 18% with ITC for standard cases. Exemptions (e.g. agri produce) remain as per earlier notifications. |
| 996512 | Railway transport services of Goods including letters, parcels, live animals, household & office furniture, intermodal containers, bulk cargo etc | 5% without ITC / 12% with ITC / 18% with ITC | 5% without ITC / 18% with ITC | Similar pattern to other goods transport: concessional 5% without ITC for specified configurations, and a standard option that shifts from 12% with ITC to 18% with ITC in line with the logistics-sector restructuring from the 56th Council. |
| 996513 | Transport services of petroleum & natural gas, water, sewerage and other goods via pipeline | 5% without ITC / 12% with ITC / 18% with ITC | 5% without ITC / 18% with ITC | Pipeline transport of petroleum and natural gas is explicitly cited in the logistics rationalisation: concessional 5% without ITC continues; the 12% with ITC variant is shifted up to 18% with ITC from 22 Sep 2025. |
| 996519 | Other land transport services of goods n.e.c. | 5% without ITC / 12% with ITC / 18% with ITC | 5% without ITC / 18% with ITC | Falls in the same “goods transport services” bucket as 996511; historically carried 5/12/18 options. Under GST 2.0, the concessional 5% without ITC remains and the 12% with ITC option is rationalised to 18% with ITC for fully taxable cases. |
| 996521 | Coastal and transoceanic (overseas) water transport services of goods by refrigerator vessels, tankers, bulk cargo vessels, container ships etc | 5% without ITC / 12% with ITC / 18% with ITC | 5% without ITC / 18% with ITC | Classified under goods transport services. Same broad treatment as other goods transport: concessional 5% without ITC is preserved; full-ITC option moves from 12% to 18% based on the logistics-sector rate restructuring. |
| 996522 | Inland water transport services of goods by refrigerator vessels, tankers and other vessels. | 5% without ITC / 12% with ITC / 18% with ITC | 5% without ITC / 18% with ITC | Again part of the goods transport group. Old structure allowed 5% without ITC and 12% with ITC in notified cases; post-rationalisation the standard full-ITC rate becomes 18%. Exemptions (e.g. certain agri or govt contracts) continue separately. |
| 996531 | Air transport services of letters & parcels and other goods | 5% without ITC / 12% with ITC / 18% with ITC | 5% without ITC / 18% with ITC | Air freight is treated as goods transport; the same rationalisation logic applies. Any previous 12% with ITC configurations are shifted to a standard 18% with ITC from 22 Sep 2025, while concessional 5% without ITC options, where available, are retained. |
| 996532 | Space transport services of freight | 5% without ITC / 12% with ITC / 18% with ITC | 5% without ITC / 18% with ITC | Under the general goods transport heading. The 56th Council’s rationalisation for logistics moves 12% full-ITC variants to 18% with ITC, retaining 5% without ITC in concessional cases; that pattern is applied to this code as well for standard domestic supplies. |
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The entire content on this page has been arranged to the best of the author's understanding and is subject to periodic updates as per the law for the time being in force. The above does not constitute professional advice or a formal recommendation. While due care has been taken in preparing this content, the existence of mistakes and omissions cannot be ruled out. BUSY Infotech Private Ltd. and its associates will not be held responsible for any loss or damage arising from any inaccurate or incomplete information in this document. We recommend consulting a professional tax consultant before acting on the information contained in this piece of content.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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What is the GST rate for GTA services under SAC 9965?
GTA services are usually taxed at 5% without ITC under reverse charge, or 12% with ITC if the GTA opts to pay tax itself. These options depend on the notification and declarations given by the transporter.
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Is reverse charge applicable on GTA services under SAC 9965?
Yes, In many cases, GST on GTA freight is paid by the recipient under reverse-charge, especially when the recipient is a factory, registered dealer, company, partnership firm or notified person. You must check the notification and your customer’s status.
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Do I need to charge GST under SAC 9965 if freight per consignment is below ₹1,500?
If the freight per consignment note does not exceed the notified exemption limits (like ₹1,500 per consignment or ₹750 per consignee in some earlier notifications), the service can be exempt. Always check the latest exemption notification and specific thresholds.
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Is a consignment note mandatory to qualify as a GTA under SAC 9965?
Yes, A transporter who issues a consignment note and takes responsibility for the goods is treated as a GTA. Without a consignment note, the service is just goods transport and may fall under a different entry and tax treatment.
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Are freight services for agricultural produce exempt under SAC 9965?
Transportation of specified agricultural produce by GTA is generally exempt from GST under the exemption notification, as long as the goods and conditions exactly match the notified list.
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Is GST applicable on transporting household goods during relocation under SAC 9965?
Transport of household goods by a GTA is normally taxable unless covered by a specific exemption. However, some packers and movers may not issue consignment notes and may be treated differently. Classification depends on how the service is structured.
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What SAC code is used for multimodal transportation services—does it fall under SAC 9965?
Multimodal transport involving more than one mode (road, rail, sea, air) is often classified separately, not under 9965. You should check if a specific SAC exists for multimodal transport, because GTA 9965 mainly covers road freight agencies.