Directory / Chapter 92
Chapter 92: Musical instruments
Musical instruments, together with their parts and accessories.
The 5 codes this site holds in chapter 92
| Code | What it covers | Markets priced | Duty range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 920110 | Pianos, upright | 6 of 6 | 0% to 4.7% |
| 920190 | Harpsichords and other keyboard string instruments | 5 of 6 | 0% to 4% |
| 920290 | Guitars and other string instruments | 4 of 6 | 2% to 5% |
| 920600 | Percussion instruments | 1 of 6 | 0% |
| 920930 | Musical instrument strings | 5 of 6 | 0% to 2.7% |
Where this chapter ends
Electronic instruments remain in this chapter rather than moving to chapter 85, because being electrically operated does not stop something being a musical instrument. Parts and accessories have their own headings, so strings, reeds and cases are classified separately from the instruments they belong to.
The guides in chapter 92 name one code outside it that goods reach when they turn out not to belong here.
- 950300 (chapter 95): Toy instruments presented as playthings
What the notes to section XVIII say
Chapter 92 sits in section XVIII, optical, photographic, cinematographic, measuring, checking, precision, medical or surgical instruments and apparatus; clocks and watches; musical instruments; parts and accessories thereof, which runs from chapter 90 to chapter 92. A section note governs every chapter in its section, so it stands one layer above the note to chapter 92 below and applies before it.
The nomenclature publishes no note to section XVIII at all. That is the published position rather than a gap on this page: the section groups its chapters and leaves the rules to them, so the note to chapter 92 below is the highest one that governs this chapter.
Read from the section notes published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/18, on 2026-09-08, and read a second time from the chapter endpoint quoted below, which carries the same section note and has to agree with it. Like the chapter and heading notes, a section note is part of the international text of the Harmonized System, so it decides classification and never a rate.
What the nomenclature excludes
The sentence above is this site's summary. This one is not. Note 1 to chapter 92 sets out what this chapter does not cover, and these are its 5 items as published, with the heading each one sends the goods to. Where a note names a chapter this site also covers, the chapter number is a link.
- (a) parts of general use, as defined in note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39)
- (b) microphones, amplifiers, loud speakers, headphones, switches, stroboscopes and other accessory instruments, apparatus or equipment of Chapter 85 or 90, for use with but not incorporated in or housed in the same cabinet as instruments of this chapter see chapter 85 , chapter 90
- (c) toy instruments and apparatus (heading 9503)
- (d) brushes for cleaning musical instruments (heading 9603), or monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles (heading 9620)
- (e) collectors' pieces or antiques (heading 9705 or 9706)
Read from the chapter notes published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/92, on 2026-09-07. The first six digits of that nomenclature are the Harmonized System itself and the notes to a chapter are part of its international text, so this is the same note whichever of this site's destinations a shipment is going to. It decides classification and never a rate.
What the notes say about each heading
The note above governs chapter 92 as a whole. Underneath it the same published notes speak about individual four digit headings, and that is the layer a classification usually turns on. This site holds codes under 4 headings in this chapter. 2 of them are the subject of a numbered note. The notes say nothing about the other one, which is the published position rather than a gap here.
| Heading | What the nomenclature calls it | Codes here | What the notes say about it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9201 | Pianos, including automatic pianos; harpsichords and other keyboard stringed instruments | 920110 , 920190 | Not named in the chapter notes |
| 9202 | Other string musical instruments (for example, guitars, violins, harps) | 920290 | Subject of note 2 |
| 9206 | Percussion musical instruments (for example, drums, xylophones, cymbals, castanets, maracas) | 920600 | Subject of note 2 |
| 9209 | Parts (for example, mechanisms for musical boxes) and accessories (for example, cards, discs and rolls for mechanical instruments) of musical instruments; metronomes, tuning forks and pitch pipes of all kinds | 920930 | Named in passing by note 2 |
How each of those notes opens, in the words the nomenclature uses. The note in full is on every code page under the heading it governs, which is where a reader deciding a classification is standing.
Note 2 to chapter 92, which takes headings 9202, 9206 as its subject
Opening, as published
Bows and sticks and similar devices used in playing the musical instruments of heading 9202 or 9206 presented with such...
Note 2 in full on 920290 , 920600 , and on every other code this site holds under those headings.
One heading is named by a note whose subject is something else, which is a cross reference rather than a rule about the heading: 9209 (note 2) . The sentence that names each one is quoted on the code pages under it.
Read from the same chapter notes quoted above, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/92, on 2026-09-07, with each heading title read from its own endpoint. The Harmonized System publishes no separate heading notes: its legal text is section notes, chapter notes and subheading notes, and what governs a heading is a chapter note whose subject clause names it. The section notes are quoted at the top of this page, which is the layer above.
What chapter 92 costs to import
The dearest line this site holds in chapter 92 is 920290, guitars and other string instruments, at 5% into Australia. 8 of the 21 rates charged on value in this chapter are zero. The widest gap between destinations is on 920110, pianos, upright, which runs from 0% to 4.7% depending on where it lands.
A destination that prices part of a chapter answers for part of it, so this is how much of chapter 92 each one covers, out of 5 codes.
| Destination | Codes priced | Duty range in this chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 5 of 5 | 0% to 5% |
| Germany | 4 of 5 | 2.7% to 4% |
| Portugal | 4 of 5 | 2.7% to 4% |
| United Kingdom | 4 of 5 | 0% to 2% |
| United States | 3 of 5 | 0% to 4.7% |
| Canada | 1 of 5 | 0% |
Third country rates, which is what applies with no trade agreement claimed. Destination tax is charged on top. Each code page carries the reading behind its own figures and the day they were read.