Restaurant bill format

Last reviewed: October 2026

What a restaurant bill is

A restaurant bill is the tax invoice a restaurant, cafe, dhaba, cloud kitchen or caterer gives the customer when the meal is paid for. It lists what was served and the tax on it, and it is the customer's proof of the expense. Behind it sit the KOTs (kitchen order tickets) that tell the kitchen what to cook; the KOT is internal, the bill is the document the customer keeps.

For GST, food served by a restaurant is a supply of restaurant service, not a sale of goods, whether it is eaten at the table, packed for takeaway or delivered. So one rate applies to the whole order: you do not look up each dish's HSN code as a grocery shop would.

How to fill in this restaurant bill format

1. Add the restaurantEnter the restaurant's name, address and GSTIN, and put the FSSAI licence number in the notes so it prints on the bill.
2. Add the customer or tableFor a walk-in, write the table number or order type in the customer name. For a business customer, enter its name, address and GSTIN.
3. List the dishesAdd each dish with quantity and rate. Add packaging or your own delivery charge as separate lines.
4. Apply the GST rateUse 5% for a stand-alone restaurant, or 18% if you are in a hotel that is a specified premises. Use 0% and the title "Bill of supply" under composition. The tax splits into CGST and SGST automatically.
5. Add the notesState that no service charge is added (or that any service charge is voluntary) and the payment mode.
6. Issue itCheck the total, then sign in to issue: the bill gets the next number in your series, is recorded in your books and is ready for GSTR-1. Downloading the PDF is free, with a small LuckPanda footer; issuing, sending and clean PDFs without our branding need the Sales module.

Example: a dine-in bill with 5% GST

A family of four at table 7 of Annapoorna Family Restaurant in Bengaluru orders two paneer tikka, a dal makhani, four butter naan and two sweet lassi. The restaurant is not in a hotel, so it charges 5%, split equally into CGST and SGST because a restaurant always supplies within its own state.

1. Bill number: from a continuous series, at most 16 characters, unique for the financial year.
2. Restaurant name, address and GSTIN, and the FSSAI licence or registration number, which FSSAI requires on every bill.
3. Date and time: the time helps match the bill to the order and the payment.
4. Table or order type: dine-in, takeaway or delivery, with the table or order number.
5. Each dish with quantity, rate and amount; no HSN per dish is needed for restaurant service.
6. Service charge statement and payment mode. A service charge cannot be added by default.
7. CGST 2.5% + SGST 2.5% on the food total; never IGST for a meal served in the restaurant's state.

A takeaway with packaging and a round-off

Packaging charged on a takeaway or delivery order is part of the same restaurant supply, so it takes the same 5%. Show it as its own line so the customer can see it. Many restaurants round the bill to the nearest rupee; the GST stays exact and a separate round-off line closes the gap.

What goes on a restaurant bill, field by field

If the customer is a GST-registered business and asks for a B2B bill, add its name, address and GSTIN. For a bill of ₹50,000 or more to an unregistered customer, rule 46 also requires the customer's name, address and state.

GST on restaurant food: rates and who pays

Restaurant rates were not changed by the GST rate rationalisation of 22 September 2025. The 5% rate without credit has applied to almost all restaurants since 15 November 2017, when the separate 18% rate for air-conditioned restaurants was abolished.

Restaurants in hotels: specified premises

A hotel is a specified premises for a financial year if, in the preceding financial year, it supplied any room at a value above ₹7,500 per day, or if it declared itself a specified premises (between 1 January and 31 March of the preceding year, or within 15 days of a new registration). Its restaurants then charge 18% with credit to everyone, including walk-in diners. Other hotel restaurants charge 5%. A stand-alone restaurant cannot opt into 18% to recover credit on its rent and equipment.

Delivery apps: section 9(5)

Since 1 January 2022, restaurant service ordered through an e-commerce operator such as Swiggy or Zomato is taxed in the hands of the operator under section 9(5) of the CGST Act. The app collects the 5% from the customer and pays it; the restaurant's own invoice for these orders carries no GST. The restaurant still reports the sales in GSTR-1 as supplies made through an e-commerce operator, and the app separately charges the restaurant 18% GST on its commission. Orders the restaurant takes and delivers itself are ordinary 5% bills. Restaurants in specified premises are outside section 9(5) and bill their own 18%.

Composition restaurants: bill of supply

A restaurant with aggregate turnover up to ₹1.5 crore (₹75 lakh in some special category states) can opt for composition. It pays 5% of its turnover (2.5% CGST + 2.5% SGST) from its own pocket, cannot collect GST from customers and cannot claim credit. Instead of a tax invoice it issues a bill of supply with the words "composition taxable person, not eligible to collect tax on supplies" at the top. A composition restaurant that adds GST to the bill is collecting tax it has no right to collect. See the bill of supply format.

Service charge: what the CCPA rules and the courts say

On 4 July 2022 the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) issued guidelines on service charge in hotels and restaurants under the Consumer Protection Act 2019. In short:

• No hotel or restaurant may add a service charge automatically or by default to the bill.
• It may not collect a service charge under any other name.
• It may not force a customer to pay it, and must tell the customer that it is voluntary and at the customer's discretion.
• It may not refuse entry or service because a customer will not pay it.
• It may not add the service charge to the food bill and charge GST on the total.

Restaurant associations challenged the guidelines. On 28 March 2025 a single judge of the Delhi High Court dismissed their petitions, upheld the guidelines, held that a mandatory service charge is an unfair trade practice that misleads customers into thinking it is a government levy, and imposed costs of ₹1 lakh each on the two associations. Their appeals were taken to a division bench of the same court; the single judge's ruling stands unless the appeal court sets it aside.

Food bills for business customers and reimbursement

Can a company claim input tax credit on a restaurant bill?

No, in almost all cases. Section 17(5)(b) of the CGST Act blocks credit on food and beverages and outdoor catering, unless the buyer uses them to make the same kind of taxable supply (a caterer subcontracting a caterer) or must provide them to employees by law. A company lunch or client dinner is an expense without GST credit.

Should the bill still carry the company's GSTIN?

It can, and some companies ask for it for their records, but it does not unlock credit. What matters for reimbursement is a proper bill: restaurant name and GSTIN, bill number, date, items and the amount paid.

What do employers accept as a food bill?

An original or digital tax invoice from the restaurant, or the e-receipt from a delivery app, showing the date, the restaurant, what was ordered and the amount paid. Most expense policies reject handwritten bills without a GSTIN or bill number, and bills dated outside the trip.

Mistakes to avoid on a restaurant bill

• Charging 18% because the restaurant is air-conditioned. AC and non-AC restaurants have had the same 5% rate since November 2017.
• Charging 18% in a hotel that is not a specified premises, or 5% in one that is.
• Adding a service charge by default. The CCPA guidelines prohibit it, and the Delhi High Court upheld them in 2025.
• Charging GST on app orders. For orders through a delivery app, the app pays the 5%; the restaurant's invoice for those orders carries no GST.
• Collecting GST under composition. A composition restaurant issues a bill of supply with no tax lines.
• Leaving out the FSSAI number. It must be on every bill and cash receipt.
• Putting liquor on the GST bill. Alcoholic drinks are outside GST and are billed with state VAT, usually on a separate bill.
• Taxing packaging at a different rate. Packaging on a takeaway is part of the restaurant supply at 5%.

Restaurant bill vs cash memo vs bill of supply vs KOT

Key terms

Restaurant service

Supply of food or drink by a restaurant, eating joint, mess or canteen, for consumption on or away from the premises; taxed as a service.

Specified premises

A hotel that sold any room above ₹7,500 a day in the previous financial year, or declared itself one; its restaurants charge 18% with credit.

Section 9(5)

The rule that makes an e-commerce operator pay GST on notified services sold through it, including restaurant service.

Bill of supply

The bill a composition taxpayer or a seller of exempt supplies issues instead of a tax invoice; it shows no GST.

KOT

Kitchen order ticket: the internal slip that sends an order to the kitchen.

FSSAI number

The 14-digit licence or registration number of a food business, required on its bills.

Questions people ask