About Chapter 49
Chapter 49 of the Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) is titled “Printed books, newspapers, pictures and other products of the printing industry; manuscripts, typescripts and plans”. It is part of Section X, Pulp, Paper & Paperboard, together with Chapter 47 (pulp of wood or of other fibrous cellulosic material) and Chapter 48 (paper and paperboard, articles of paper pulp).
The chapter is divided into 11 headings, from 4901 (printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter) to 4911 (other printed matter, including printed pictures and photographs). The headings with the most codes that people search for are children's picture, drawing or colouring books (4903), printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter (4901), newspapers, journals and periodicals (4902), maps and hydrographic or similar charts of all kinds (4905) and printed or illustrated postcards (4909).
Note 2 counts as “printed” anything reproduced by a duplicating machine, produced under the control of an automatic data processing machine, embossed, photographed, photocopied, thermocopied or typewritten. Note 1 sends playing cards to Chapter 95 and maps or globes in relief to heading 9023.
Every heading is listed below. Under each are the codes that have their own page on Laabam One, 8 codes in this chapter, each with its full classification: its chapter, heading and sub-heading, and the codes beside it.
Every code in this chapter begins with 49: four digits make a heading, six a sub-heading, and eight a tariff item of India's Customs Tariff. How many of those digits a GST tax invoice shows depends on the business, not the goods: under Notification No. 78/2020 – Central Tax, from 1 April 2021, four digits where aggregate turnover in the previous financial year was up to ₹5 crore, and six above it. Up to ₹5 crore, the code may be left off invoices to unregistered buyers.
No GST rate is shown here. GST rates were revised in September 2025, and a rate appears on this site only once it has been checked against the CBIC rate notifications.
Sources: ITC(HS) Chapter 49, DGCI&S (title, headings and notes); Notification No. 78/2020 – Central Tax (HSN digits on invoices).