GST on MacBook rental in India: rate, SAC code and input tax credit

Renting a MacBook in India carries 18% GST, the same rate as buying one. A GST-registered business claims that GST back as input tax credit, month by month, so for most companies it is not a cost. Here is where the rate comes from, what the invoice must show, and the cases where the credit does not flow.

The rate: 18%, tied to the rate on the laptop itself

Leasing or renting of goods is taxed at the same rate as a sale of the same goods. That rule sits in item (viia) of serial number 17 of Notification 11/2017-Central Tax (Rate), added from 1 January 2019. Laptops fall under HSN 8471, which sits in the 9% central tax schedule of Notification 9/2025-Central Tax (Rate), in force since 22 September 2025. So a laptop rental is 9% CGST plus 9% SGST within a state, or 18% IGST between states.

The September 2025 rate changes did not move this. The notification that amended the services rates that month left serial number 17 as it was. The CBIC notifications are on its tax information portal.

The SAC code

The services code for renting a computer is 997315, "leasing or rental services concerning computers with or without operators", under heading 9973 in the CBIC services annexure. Codes are indicative; the classification on the invoice governs.

The credit: available, and not blocked

Section 16(1) of the CGST Act allows input tax credit on supplies used in the course or furtherance of business. Section 17(5), the list of blocked credits, blocks the leasing or renting of motor vehicles, vessels and aircraft, and nothing in it covers computers used in the business. So the GST on MacBook rent is creditable, subject to the usual conditions:

• a valid tax invoice in your name, with your GSTIN, and the supplier filing its returns;
• apportionment if a device is partly used for something other than the business, or for exempt supplies;
• no credit for personal consumption.

The deposit carries no GST while it is a deposit

Section 2(31) of the CGST Act says a deposit is not payment for a supply unless the supplier applies it as consideration for that supply. A refundable security deposit is therefore outside GST until any part of it is kept against a charge.

Ten MacBook Airs, worked through

Rent at 4.5% of MRP a month on a 36-month term. Figures are rounded to the rupee.

When the GST does become a cost

• No GST registration. An unregistered business, or a liaison office that is not registered, cannot claim the credit, so the GST is part of the rent.
• Exempt supplies. A business making exempt supplies reverses credit in proportion under Section 17(2).
• A wrong invoice. Credit follows the invoice. Rent billed to a head office in one state for devices used by a branch registered in another needs checking with your CA.

What our invoices show

Rent is invoiced monthly in advance, with GST and the SAC code on every invoice, to one GSTIN or branch-wise across several. The rent is 4.5% of Apple India MRP a month on 36 months; every configuration shows its rent before GST. We are a rental company, not a tax adviser, so confirm the treatment for your books with your CA.

Send the fleet and the GSTINs and the quote will show GST line by line: rentals.adalwin.com/quote.