Restaurant GST: 5%, 18% and food delivery apps
Updated 07-11-2026
Most restaurants and cafés charge 5% GST without input tax credit. Restaurants in hotels that let rooms above ₹7,500 a night charge 18% with credit. Orders through food delivery apps follow a third rule: the app pays the GST.
The three cases
| Where the food is served from | GST | Input tax credit |
|---|---|---|
| A standalone restaurant, café or takeaway | 5% | No |
| A restaurant in a hotel that is not "specified premises" | 5% | No |
| A restaurant in "specified premises" | 18% | Yes |
| An order through a food delivery app (restaurant not in specified premises) | 5%, paid by the app | — |
What "specified premises" means from 1 April 2025
- Premises from which hotel accommodation was supplied at a value above ₹7,500 a day for any unit in the previous financial year — the price actually charged, not a printed tariff.
- Or premises the hotel has declared as specified premises: by a declaration filed between 1 January and 31 March of the previous financial year, or with a new registration.
- The status is decided for each premises and for each financial year.
- A standalone restaurant cannot declare itself specified premises to charge 18% with credit (GST Council, 3 September 2025).
Food delivery apps
Since 1 January 2022 the e-commerce operator pays the GST on restaurant services supplied through it (section 9(5) of the CGST Act, Notification 17/2021-Central Tax (Rate)). For those orders you charge no GST and post no output GST; you report the sales in GSTR-1 table 14(b) and GSTR-3B table 3.1.1(ii). From 1 April 2025 this does not apply to a restaurant in specified premises, which pays its own GST on app orders.
Living with 5% without credit
Milk, paneer and fresh vegetables carry no GST, but ghee and oil are 5% and commercial LPG, takeaway containers and other packaging are 18%. At 5% without credit, the GST on all of these is a cost — price your menu with it in.
In the app
The restaurant item list has menu dishes at 5% under SAC 996331 with recipes that use up ingredients as you sell. Bill app orders with "Through a delivery app or operator who pays the GST" ticked and the app's GSTIN: the bill carries no GST and says the app pays it, and the sale lands in the right GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B tables.
Sources
- GST Council — 56th meeting, PIB press release of 3 September 2025 (a standalone restaurant cannot declare itself specified premises)
- CBIC tax information portal — Notifications 05/2025 and 08/2025-Central Tax (Rate) of 16 January 2025 (specified premises) and 17/2021-Central Tax (Rate) (delivery apps)
Checked against the official text on 07-11-2026. This is general information, not tax advice.