{"id":41,"date":"2026-04-29T02:35:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T02:35:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/gst-restaurants-food-business-india-2026\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T05:04:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T05:04:48","slug":"gst-restaurants-food-business-india-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/gst-restaurants-food-business-india-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"GST on Restaurants and Food Business \u2014 Rates, Rules &#038; Compliance 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>GST rules for restaurants and food businesses are different from other sectors. Different rates apply based on restaurant type, AC\/non-AC, location, and service model. Here is the complete 2026 GST guide for the food industry.<\/p>\n<h2>GST Rates for Restaurants<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Standalone restaurants (AC or non-AC): 5% GST without ITC<\/li>\n<li>Restaurants in 5-star hotels (room tariff Rs 7,500+): 18% GST with ITC<\/li>\n<li>Outdoor catering in hotels with room tariff Rs 7,500+: 18% GST with ITC<\/li>\n<li>Outdoor catering otherwise: 5% GST without ITC<\/li>\n<li>Takeaway and home delivery: Same as dine-in rate<\/li>\n<li>Cloud kitchens: 5% GST without ITC<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Food Items GST Rates<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Most food items: 5% GST<\/li>\n<li>Branded packaged food: 5% or 12% (varies)<\/li>\n<li>Restaurant-served food: 5% (most cases)<\/li>\n<li>Beverages (carbonated): 28% GST + cess<\/li>\n<li>Alcohol: NOT under GST (state excise applies)<\/li>\n<li>Mineral water: 18% GST<\/li>\n<li>Tea\/coffee\/milk: 5% GST<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Input Tax Credit (ITC) Rules<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Restaurants charging 5% GST: NO ITC available on inputs<\/li>\n<li>Restaurants charging 18% GST: Full ITC available<\/li>\n<li>Cannot claim ITC on food provided to employees as perks<\/li>\n<li>Can claim ITC on capital goods (equipment) under 18% category<\/li>\n<li>Cannot mix 5% and 18% supplies easily<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Composition Scheme for Restaurants<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Available for restaurants with turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore<\/li>\n<li>Pay 5% tax (2.5% CGST + 2.5% SGST) on turnover<\/li>\n<li>No ITC, but simplified compliance<\/li>\n<li>File CMP-08 quarterly + GSTR-4 annually<\/li>\n<li>Cannot supply alcohol or interstate sales<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>GST Registration Threshold for Food Business<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Mandatory if annual turnover exceeds Rs 20 lakh (services)<\/li>\n<li>For pure goods (food retailing): Rs 40 lakh threshold<\/li>\n<li>Mandatory regardless of turnover for: Inter-state supply, e-commerce sellers (Zomato\/Swiggy), casual taxable persons<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Billing Requirements<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Tax invoice for B2B supplies<\/li>\n<li>Bill of supply for B2C (or composition scheme)<\/li>\n<li>GSTIN must be displayed on bill<\/li>\n<li>HSN\/SAC code mention required<\/li>\n<li>CGST + SGST split for intra-state<\/li>\n<li>IGST for inter-state<\/li>\n<li>Service charge is OPTIONAL \u2014 customer can refuse<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>E-Commerce Operator Rules (Zomato\/Swiggy)<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Effective Jan 1, 2022: E-commerce operators are deemed suppliers<\/li>\n<li>Zomato\/Swiggy collect 5% GST and remit to government<\/li>\n<li>Restaurants do NOT charge GST on these orders<\/li>\n<li>But you must mention these supplies in GSTR-1 (B2C-other)<\/li>\n<li>Mandatory GST registration for selling on these platforms<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Common Mistakes to Avoid<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Charging wrong GST rate based on AC\/non-AC (no longer matters since 2017)<\/li>\n<li>Not registering when crossing threshold<\/li>\n<li>Mixing 5% and 18% supplies incorrectly<\/li>\n<li>Claiming ITC under 5% scheme<\/li>\n<li>Not maintaining proper purchase invoices<\/li>\n<li>Missing composition scheme deadline<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why Choose My Insta Biz?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Expert CA &amp; CS team<\/li>\n<li>100% online process<\/li>\n<li>Fast turnaround<\/li>\n<li>Pan India service<\/li>\n<li>Transparent pricing<\/li>\n<li>24&#215;7 WhatsApp support<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Get started today \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/gst-registration.php\">Apply for GST Registration here<\/a> or call +91 94148 83452.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Complete GST guide for restaurants, cafes, cloud kitchens, and food businesses in India. Rates, ITC rules, billing, composition scheme, and compliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gst"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"gauravjain63","author_link":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/author\/gauravjain63\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Complete GST guide for restaurants, cafes, cloud kitchens, and food businesses in India. Rates, ITC rules, billing, composition scheme, and compliance.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":827,"href":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41\/revisions\/827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinstabiz.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}