Sale of machine made or polyester national flag exempt from GST: FinMin

Sale of the Indian national flag, irrespective of whether machine made or of polyester, is exempt from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the finance ministry said on Friday.

Hand-woven, hand-spun national flags made of cotton, silk, wool or Khadi are already exempt from GST.

In an office memorandum, the Revenue Department clarified that polyester or machine-made tricolour too would be exempt from the levy following amendments to the 'Flag Code of India, 2002' in December last year.

"It has been clarified that the sale of the Indian National Flag, adhering to the Flag Code 2002 and its subsequent amendments, is exempt from GST," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's office tweeted.

The clarification from the finance ministry comes in the backdrop of the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' initiative under the 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav' -- celebrating 75 years of India's independence.

It envisages inspiring Indians everywhere to hoist the national flag at their home. The idea behind the initiative is to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the people and promote awareness about our national flag.

The Flag Code of India brings together all laws, conventions, practices, and instructions for the display of the national flag.

The Flag Code of India, 2002 was amended in December 2021, and tricolour made of polyester or machine-made flags have been allowed.

Now, the tricolour can be made of hand-spun and hand-woven or machine-made, cotton/polyester/wool/silk/khadi bunting.