Religious Ceremonies and Renting of Religious Precincts

Religious Ceremonies and Renting explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.

Entry 13 has two halves that behave very differently. The ceremony half has no conditions at all. The renting half has three monetary ceilings, and crossing any of them takes the whole letting out of the exemption.

Entry 13 exempts services by a person by way of (a) conduct of any religious ceremony, and (b) renting of precincts of a religious place meant for the general public, owned or managed by an entity registered as a charitable or religious trust under section 12AA or 12AB, a trust or institution under section 10(23C)(v), or a body or authority under section 10(23BBA) of the Income-tax Act. The proviso removes rooms at ₹1,000 or more per day, premises, community halls, kalyanmandapam or open areas at ₹10,000 or more per day, and shops or other spaces for business or commerce at ₹10,000 or more per month.

Part (a): conducting a religious ceremony

Scope, as the Handbook sets it out:

• Service provided by — any person;
• Nature of service — conduct of religious ceremony;
• Condition or threshold — no condition or limit.

"Any person" is doing real work here. Unlike part (b), which requires a registered trust or institution, part (a) exempts the ceremony whoever performs it — a priest, a professional, an organisation.

And there is no monetary cap. The Handbook's example: "Shri Jagdish Ji, a priest, charged ₹21,000 from Mr. X for carrying out the rituals of his marriage ceremony. This is exempt under clause (a) of Entry 13."

What is a religious ceremony? The term is undefined in GST and was undefined in service tax, so the Handbook falls back on the CBEC Education Guide: "religious ceremonies are life-cycle rituals including special religious poojas conducted in terms of religious texts by a person so authorized by such religious texts. Occasions like birth, marriage and death involve elaborate religious ceremonies."

Two markers therefore. The ritual must be conducted in terms of religious texts, by a person authorised by those texts.

And the boundary is strict: "all incomes from religious ceremonies are not exempt. During the course of a religious ceremony, if services other than by way of conduct of religious ceremony are provided, such services are not exempt."

So the catering, the decoration, the hall and the photography at the same event are separate supplies on their own terms.

Part (b): what "precincts" means

"Religious place" is defined as "a place which is primarily meant for conduct of prayers or worship pertaining to a religion, meditation, or spirituality."

"Precincts" is not defined — and the answer comes from service tax. Circular No. 200/10/2016-Service Tax dated 06.09.2016 clarified that the word should be interpreted:

"to consider all immovable property of the religious place located within the outer boundary wall of the complex (of building and facilities) in which religious place is located, as being located in the precincts. The immovable property located in the immediate vicinity and surrounding the religious place and owned by the religious place or under the same management as the religious place may be considered as being located in the precincts."

Two tests, in sequence. Anything inside the outer boundary wall is precincts. Anything immediately outside can still be precincts if it is owned by, or under the same management as, the religious place.

The Handbook's third example turns on exactly that: "Rent of ₹8,000 charged for letting out shops outside the temple in the area under management of trust managing the temple. This is exempt under clause (b)." Outside the wall, but under the same management — and below the ₹10,000 monthly ceiling.

Who must own or manage the place

The exemption requires the precincts to be owned or managed by one of three categories:

• a charitable or religious trust registered under section 12AA or 12AB of the Income-tax Act;
• a trust or institution registered under section 10(23C)(v); or
• a body or authority covered under section 10(23BBA) — the provision for bodies established for administration of public religious or charitable trusts and endowments.

A religious place with no such registration behind it is outside part (b) altogether, however genuinely religious it is.

The three ceilings

They are thresholds, not slabs. The proviso disapplies the exemption where charges are "one thousand rupees or more" and "ten thousand rupees or more" — so a room at exactly ₹1,000 is taxable, and one at ₹999 is exempt. The whole charge becomes taxable, not the excess.

The Handbook's second example: "Rent of ₹9,000 charged for letting out community hall in a temple premises for a convention to a business organization. This is exempt."

Note who the tenant is in that example — a business organisation. The exemption does not depend on the recipient; a commercial user paying below the ceiling gets the benefit, and a devotee paying above it does not.

And the third ceiling is periodic, not daily. Shops are tested per month, which is why a shop at ₹8,000 a month is exempt while a hall at ₹10,000 for a single day is not.

How this sits with the other entries

A religious trust will often be relying on more than one entry at once, and each has its own conditions:

• Entry 1 — services by way of charitable activities, which for a religious body means advancement of religion, spirituality or yoga under para 2(r)(ii). The four heads of charitable activities →
• Entry 13(a) — the ceremony, by any person, unconditionally.
• Entry 13(b) — the precincts, by a registered trust, below three ceilings.
• Entry 80(a) — recreational training in arts or culture by an individual.

And what falls outside all of them: a trust's restaurant or prasadam sales above the exempt goods position, its publications, its donation-funded activities that are not within para 2(r), and any letting above the ceilings.

Because exempt supplies count in aggregate turnover, a trust with a modest taxable stream — one hall let above ₹10,000, a shop above ₹10,000 a month — can cross the registration threshold on its exempt receipts. That is the practical reason to map the receipts before the year, not after.

Key takeaways

• Entry 13(a) exempts conduct of any religious ceremony, by any person, with no monetary limit.
• A religious ceremony is a life-cycle ritual conducted in terms of religious texts by a person authorised by them.
• Other services supplied during a ceremony are not exempt.
• Entry 13(b) exempts renting of precincts of a religious place meant for the general public, owned or managed by a 12AA/12AB trust, a 10(23C)(v) institution, or a 10(23BBA) body.
• "Precincts" covers everything within the outer boundary wall, plus property in the immediate vicinity under the same ownership or management — Circular No. 200/10/2016-ST.
• Ceilings: rooms ₹1,000 a day, halls and open areas ₹10,000 a day, shops ₹10,000 a month — at or above, the exemption goes entirely.
• The identity of the tenant is irrelevant — a business user below the ceiling is exempt.
• Exempt receipts still count towards the registration threshold.

Read next

• Charitable Trusts: 12AA/12AB and the Narrow Definition of "Charitable Activities"
• RWAs, Clubs and the ₹7,500 and ₹1,000 Thresholds
• Arts, Sports and Culture: Entries 53, 68, 78 and 80

Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on entry 13 of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate), sections 10(23BBA), 10(23C)(v), 12AA and 12AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961, Circular No. 200/10/2016-Service Tax dated 6 September 2016 and the CBEC Education Guide, as reproduced in the ICAI Handbook on Exempted Supplies under GST (April 2025).