GST on Restaurant Food in India — 5% or 18%?

For the vast majority of restaurants it is 5% (no ITC) — standalone outlets, budget-hotel restaurants, takeaway, cloud kitchens and outdoor catering. It becomes 18% (with ITC) only when the restaurant is in specified premises, i.e. a hotel where any room's declared tariff is ₹7,500 or more per night, which covers most 5-star hotels.

Yes — but only if it is located in specified premises (a hotel with a declared room tariff of ₹7,500 or more per night). Such restaurants charge 18% and can claim ITC. An ordinary standalone restaurant cannot charge 18%; it must charge the 5% rate without ITC.

The same 5% as non-AC restaurants. The earlier distinction between air-conditioned (18%) and non-AC (12%) restaurants was abolished on 15 November 2017. Since then, all standalone restaurants — AC or non-AC — charge a uniform 5% without ITC.

Yes. Food ordered through Zomato is taxed at 5%. Since 1 January 2022, Zomato is an Electronic Commerce Operator (ECO) under Section 9(5) of the CGST Act, so Zomato — not the restaurant — collects and pays the 5% GST on the food value to the government.

Yes, identical to Zomato. Swiggy is an ECO under Section 9(5), so it pays the 5% GST on the food value on the restaurant's behalf. The restaurant does not separately charge GST on such orders but still reports them in its returns.

The platform. For orders placed through Zomato or Swiggy, the ECO is liable to collect and deposit the 5% GST on the food value. The restaurant issues its bill without collecting that GST. Separate delivery and platform/convenience fees charged by the app carry 18% GST as the platform's own service.

The 5% rate applies only to the food. Delivery charges and platform/convenience fees billed by Zomato/Swiggy are a separate service taxed at 18%. Packing charges billed by the restaurant itself are part of the composite restaurant supply and taxed at 5% with the food.

No. Restaurants on the 5% rate cannot claim Input Tax Credit — this is the trade-off for the lower rate. GST paid on rent, kitchen equipment, cooking gas, packaging and raw materials becomes an embedded cost. Only restaurants charging 18% (in specified premises) can claim full ITC on their inputs.

Restaurants are the one service explicitly allowed under the composition scheme. Eligible restaurants pay a flat 5% (2.5% CGST + 2.5% SGST) on turnover if aggregate annual turnover is up to ₹1.5 crore (₹75 lakh in special-category states). They cannot charge GST separately on the bill, cannot claim ITC, and file quarterly CMP-08 plus annual GSTR-4.

A restaurant supplies a service, so registration is mandatory once aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year (₹10 lakh for special-category states). Restaurants supplying through an ECO like Zomato/Swiggy, or making inter-state supplies, may need to register regardless of turnover.

Cloud kitchens (delivery-only kitchens with no dine-in) are treated as restaurants and charge 5% GST with no ITC. When they sell exclusively through Zomato/Swiggy, the platform pays the 5% under the ECO rule; on orders through their own website or phone, the kitchen collects and pays the 5% itself.

Takeaway and parcel orders from a restaurant attract the same 5% GST as dine-in. There is no separate packaged-food rate for a hot meal parcelled at the counter — it remains a restaurant supply. Only sealed, pre-packaged manufactured food follows product-wise HSN rates.

Outdoor catering away from the caterer's premises is taxed at 5% without ITC. However, catering provided inside specified premises (a venue with a declared room tariff of ₹7,500 or more per night, such as a luxury-hotel banquet) attracts 18% with ITC.

Renting a banquet or marriage hall is taxed at 18% GST. Where the hall is booked together with food and decor as a single package, it is a composite supply and the whole booking is generally taxed at 18%. Pure catering supplied separately at an outside venue remains at 5%.

Alcoholic liquor for human consumption is outside GST and is taxed under state VAT/excise instead. A restaurant bill that includes drinks shows 5% GST on the food portion and separate state VAT on the alcohol portion — the two are billed under different tax heads.