Invoice format for restaurants and catering businesses
Restaurant service is billed under SAC 996331. The commonly applied 5% rate comes with input tax credit disallowed, which changes how you should price rather than just how you invoice.
SAC codes you are likely to need
| SAC | Covers |
|---|---|
| 996331 | Services provided by restaurants, cafes and similar eating facilities |
| 996334 | Catering services in exhibition halls, events and functions |
Typical rate: 5% without input tax credit, or 18% in specified premises
Lines this trade needs that a generic template misses
- Covers or number of guests, for catering
- Menu package, listed separately from add-ons
- Beverages, which can carry different treatment from food
- Service charge, if levied, clearly distinguished from tax
What goes wrong on these invoices
Treating 5% as simply cheaper. Input tax credit is disallowed at that rate, so the GST on your rent, your equipment and your supplies becomes a real cost rather than a recoverable one. For a business with high input costs the arithmetic is not obvious.
Showing service charge in a way that reads as a tax. It is a charge levied by the establishment, not a statutory levy, and presenting it alongside the tax lines invites complaints and consumer forum notices.
Using a single line for a large catering order. Event clients reconcile against their headcount, and one line for 400 covers produces a query every time.
Which rate applies depends on the type of premises. Confirm your category before setting your menu prices.
The particulars every tax invoice needs
Beyond the trade-specific lines above, Rule 46 of the CGST Rules requires your name, address and GSTIN; a consecutive serial number unique within the financial year and no longer than sixteen characters; the date; your customer's name, address and GSTIN where registered; the place of supply; a description of the supply; the SAC code; quantity and unit; taxable value; the rate and amount of tax split into CGST and SGST or IGST; whether tax is payable on reverse charge; and a signature.
The invoice generator lays all of that out and works out the tax split for you. The numbering tool checks your serial format against the sixteen-character limit.
Common questions
- Which SAC code applies to restaurants and catering businesses?
- 996331 covers services provided by restaurants, cafes and similar eating facilities. Related codes you may need are 996334 for catering services in exhibition halls, events and functions. Classification is your accountant's call, not a template's.
- What GST rate applies?
- 5% without input tax credit, or 18% in specified premises. Rates are revised by notification from time to time, so confirm the rate in force on the date of supply against the CBIC rate finder rather than relying on any figure printed on a website.
- Do I need a GST registration to invoice?
- Not necessarily. Below the registration threshold you can issue a bill of supply rather than a tax invoice, and you do not charge GST. Once registered, a tax invoice with all the Rule 46 particulars becomes mandatory. The threshold differs for goods and services and for special category states.
- Can I use this format as-is?
- The structure and the fields, yes. The codes, rates and treatment need checking against your own facts. This page tells you what the invoice needs to carry; it cannot tell you what your specific supply is classified as.