Renting of Residential Dwelling and the 90-Day Accommodation Exemption

Renting of Residential Dwelling 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 12 has been amended four times, and the July 2024 amendment did two things at once: it took hostels and paying guest accommodation out of entry 12 and put them into a new entry 12A with entirely different conditions.

Entry 12 exempts renting of a residential dwelling for use as residence, except where it is rented to a registered person — the exception inserted by Notification No. 4/2022-CT(R) w.e.f. 18.07.2022. Explanation 1, inserted by Notification No. 15/2022-CT(R) w.e.f. 01.01.2023, restores the exemption where a proprietor rents in his personal capacity for his own residence on his own account. Explanation 2, inserted by Notification No. 04/2024-CT(R) w.e.f. 15.07.2024, removes student residences, hostels, camps and paying guest accommodation from entry 12 — and the new entry 12A exempts accommodation of up to ₹20,000 per person per month supplied for a minimum continuous period of ninety days.

What a residential dwelling is

The term is not defined. The Handbook applies trade parlance: "it shall include all residential accommodation other than hotel, hotel inn, guest house, camp–site, lodge, houseboat, or like places which are meant for temporary stay."

"Renting" is defined — "allowing, permitting or granting access, entry, occupation, use or any such facility, wholly or partly, in an immovable property, with or without the transfer of possession or control, and includes letting, leasing, licensing or other similar arrangements."

Two conditions in the entry itself. The property must be a residential dwelling, and it must be for use as residence. A residential flat let as an office is outside entry 12 on the second condition alone.

The 2022 exception and the 2023 explanation

From 18.07.2022, entry 12 excepts renting to a registered person. As the Handbook puts it: "such an exemption shall not apply when a residential dwelling is rented to a registered person for commercial purposes. These services are treated as commercial activities."

And the tax then falls on the tenant. Entry 5AA of Notification No. 13/2017-CT(R), inserted on the same date, puts the supply under reverse charge in the registered tenant's hands. The three renting reverse charge entries →

The proprietor problem, and Explanation 1. The 2022 exception caught an ordinary case it was not meant to: a proprietor whose firm is registered, renting a house for himself. Explanation 1, inserted by Notification No. 15/2022-CT(R) w.e.f. 01.01.2023, covers renting to a registered person where:

• (i) the registered person is a proprietor of a proprietorship concern and rents the dwelling in his personal capacity for use as his own residence; and
• (ii) such renting is on his own account and not that of the proprietorship concern.

Limb (ii) is evidenced in the books. Rent debited to the firm fails it.

A single price destroys the exemption. "If a residential dwelling is rented for a single price to another person, such supply shall be determined in accordance with Section 8 and shall be considered as a mixed supply and thus, full amount shall be exigible to GST." Composite and mixed supplies →

Explanation 2, and the new entry 12A

Explanation 2, inserted by Notification No. 04/2024-Central Tax (Rate) dated 12.07.2024 w.e.f. 15.07.2024, provides that nothing in entry 12 applies to:

• (i) accommodation services for students in student residences;
• (ii) accommodation services provided by Hostels, Camps, Paying Guest accommodations and the like.

Because they moved to their own entry. "The provision of accommodation services related to student residences, hostels, camps, paying guest accommodations, etc., has been removed from Serial No. 12… as they are now covered under the new Serial No. 12A."

Entry 12A — "Supply of accommodation services having value of supply less than or equal to twenty thousand rupees per person per month provided that the accommodation service is supplied for a minimum continuous period of ninety days."

Two conditions, both of which must hold:

The ninety-day condition is the operative one. A hostel charging ₹8,000 a month is exempt for a student staying an academic year, and taxable for a three-week guest — the value ceiling being satisfied in both cases.

And "per person per month" is a rate ceiling, not a total. A shared room at ₹18,000 per occupant is within the entry; the total received for the room is irrelevant.

The low-cost hotel exemption that went

Before 18.07.2022 there was a separate exemption "to services of low-cost Hotel, inn, guest house, club or campsite, or any other place which offers services of residential or lodging purposes and is having value of supply of a unit of accommodation below one thousand rupees per day or equivalent."

With a proportionality rule: "the value of supply should be considered as for a complete day and thus, if a room is given for part of day, the amount should be considered proportionately."

It was omitted by Notification No. 4/2022-CT(R) w.e.f. 18.07.2022. So between July 2022 and July 2024 there was no accommodation exemption at all below the residential-dwelling entry; entry 12A filled the gap with a different design — monthly ceiling plus minimum stay, rather than a daily tariff test.

The other personal-consumption exemptions

The same group of entries covers everyday services supplied to individuals:

• Entry 50 — public libraries by way of lending of books, publications or any other knowledge-enhancing content or material;
• Entry 76 — public conveniences such as bathrooms, washrooms, lavatories, urinals or toilets;
• Entry 79 — admission to a museum, national park, wildlife sanctuary, tiger reserve or zoo — no value limit;
• Entry 79A — admission to a protected monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 or a State Act — no value limit;
• Entry 81 — admission to a circus, dance or theatrical performance including drama or ballet; an award function, concert, pageant, musical performance or sporting event other than a recognised sporting event; a recognised sporting event; or a planetarium — where consideration is not more than ₹500 per person;
• Entries 82, 82A and 82B — admission to FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017, FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2020 and AFC Women's Asia Cup 2022 events — no value limit.

Note the pattern in entries 79 to 82. Places of public heritage and natural interest are exempt without limit; performances and events are exempt only up to ₹500 a ticket.

Key takeaways

• Entry 12 exempts a residential dwelling for use as residence, except when rented to a registered person — from 18.07.2022.
• Explanation 1 (from 01.01.2023) preserves the exemption for a proprietor renting in his personal capacity on his own account.
• Explanation 2 (from 15.07.2024) removes student residences, hostels, camps and paying guest accommodation from entry 12.
• Entry 12A (from 15.07.2024) exempts accommodation up to ₹20,000 per person per month, only for a minimum continuous stay of ninety days.
• A single price covering residential and commercial use makes the letting a mixed supply, fully taxable.
• The below-₹1,000-a-day hotel exemption was omitted on 18.07.2022.
• Public libraries and public conveniences are exempt; museums, parks, sanctuaries and monuments without limit; performances and events only up to ₹500 a ticket.

Read next

• RCM Entries 5A, 5AA and 5AB: Renting of Immovable Property
• An Exempt Supply Inside a Composite or Mixed Supply
• Arts, Sports and Culture: Entries 53, 68, 78 and 80

Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on entries 12, 12A, 50, 76, 79, 79A, 81, 82, 82A and 82B of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate), Notification Nos. 4/2022, 15/2022 and 04/2024-Central Tax (Rate), section 8 of the CGST Act, 2017 and entry 5AA of Notification No. 13/2017-Central Tax (Rate), as reproduced in the ICAI Handbook on Exempted Supplies under GST (April 2025).