Restaurant GST Filing Guide India 2026: Rates, Returns, and Deadlines

GST for restaurants in India is not complicated once you understand two things: which scheme applies to you, and what you can and cannot claim as Input Tax Credit. Getting either of these wrong means either overpaying tax or triggering a notice. This guide covers both, with exact due dates and a worked example of a monthly filing.

GST Rates for Restaurants in India (2026)

• 5% GST (no ITC): Standalone restaurants — both AC and non-AC. This is the most common category. You charge 5% on food bills and cannot claim ITC on your inputs (ingredients, packaging, equipment).
• 5% GST (no ITC) — takeaway and delivery: Same rate applies whether the customer eats in or orders via Swiggy/Zomato.
• 18% GST (with ITC): Restaurants inside hotels where room tariff exceeds ₹7,500/night. Rarely applicable to standalone operators.
• Alcohol: Not under GST. State excise duty applies separately. Do not include alcohol revenue in your GST return; it is a separate compliance track.
• Composition Scheme (for turnover up to ₹1.5 crore): Flat 5% on food sales, no ITC, quarterly filing instead of monthly. Cannot serve alcohol under composition scheme.

Regular Scheme vs Composition Scheme: Which to Choose

The decision comes down to your turnover and whether ITC matters to your cost structure:

• Regular scheme: File monthly, charge 5% GST on bills, cannot claim ITC on most restaurant inputs. More paperwork but no ceiling on turnover.
• Composition scheme: File quarterly (CMP-08), pay 5% flat on turnover, zero ITC, cannot issue tax invoices (only bill of supply), cannot sell to GST-registered businesses who need a tax invoice. Simpler but restricts your customer base.

Most restaurants with annual turnover under ₹1.5 crore benefit from the composition scheme purely because of reduced filing frequency. The ITC loss rarely matters because 5% restaurant GST means input credits are small relative to filing cost. Exception: if you supply to corporate canteens or catering to GST-registered businesses, stay on regular scheme so you can issue tax invoices.

Monthly Filing Deadlines and What Each Form Covers

Regular Scheme (monthly filers):

• GSTR-1: Due 11th of each month. Report all outward supplies (your sales). For restaurants this is mostly B2C — simply aggregate daily sales by tax rate.
• GSTR-3B: Due 20th of each month. Summary return with tax payment. Pay the net GST liability (output tax minus any ITC). For standalone restaurants this is almost always just output tax, since ITC is blocked.
• GSTR-9: Annual return, due 31st December of the following financial year. Required if annual turnover exceeds ₹2 crore.

Composition Scheme (quarterly filers):

• CMP-08: Quarterly statement with payment, due 18th of the month following the quarter end (July 18, October 18, January 18, April 18).
• GSTR-4: Annual return, due 30th April of the following year.

Late filing penalties: ₹50/day (₹25 CGST + ₹25 SGST) for GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B, capped at ₹5,000 per return. Nil returns: ₹20/day.

Common GST Mistakes Indian Restaurants Make

• Including alcohol in GST returns: Alcohol is state excise, not GST. Including it overstates your turnover and creates a mismatch with GSTR-1.
• Reporting Swiggy/Zomato sales incorrectly: Aggregators collect GST on restaurant sales under the e-commerce operator mechanism (Section 9(5)). The aggregator pays GST on your behalf for delivery orders. You must report these as exempt or zero-rated in your GSTR-1 (not at 5%), otherwise you double-count the liability.
• Claiming ITC on inputs: Standalone restaurant on the 5% scheme cannot claim ITC. Attempting to do so triggers a notice.
• Missing the QRMP scheme option: If turnover is under ₹5 crore, you can opt into QRMP to file GSTR-1 quarterly but still pay tax monthly via a fixed sum. Reduces filing from 24 returns/year to 8.

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