Do I have to pay GST on my house rent?

No, if you rent a home to live in and you are not GST-registered. A registered firm or company renting a flat pays 18% under reverse charge, except a registered sole proprietor renting it personally as his own home.

Is GST payable on commercial rent if the landlord earns less than ₹20 lakh?

An unregistered landlord below the limit does not charge GST. But if the tenant is a regular GST-registered business, the tenant pays 18% under reverse charge, a rule in force since 10 October 2024.

Can a tenant claim input tax credit on rent?

Yes, a registered tenant using the premises for business can usually claim the GST, whether the landlord charged it or the tenant paid it under reverse charge. Credit is not available for personal use, such as a flat used as a home.

Is GST charged on a rent security deposit?

No. A refundable deposit is not payment for the rental. GST applies only if the deposit is adjusted against rent or kept by the landlord.

Is a hostel or PG exempt from GST?

Yes, if the charge is up to ₹20,000 per person per month and the stay is at least 90 continuous days. Short hotel stays are taxed at 5% up to ₹7,500 a night and 18% above.

GST on rent: residential and commercial property

Updated 11 October 2026

Rent for a house or flat that you live in carries no GST, unless you are a GST-registered business renting it. Rent for a shop, office, warehouse or other non-residential property is taxed at 18%. If the landlord is not registered and you are a registered business, you pay that 18% yourself under the reverse charge mechanism.

Rent and GST at a glance

What is rented, and to whom	GST	Who pays it
Home rented to an individual to live in (tenant not GST-registered)	Nil (exempt)	Nobody
Home rented to a GST-registered person, firm or company	18%	Tenant, under reverse charge
Home rented to a registered sole proprietor in his personal capacity, as his own residence	Nil (exempt since 1 January 2023)	Nobody
Shop, office or other commercial property, landlord registered	18%	Landlord adds it to the invoice
Commercial property, landlord unregistered, tenant a regular registered taxpayer	18%	Tenant, under reverse charge (since 10 October 2024)
Commercial property, landlord unregistered, tenant under the composition scheme	Nil (excluded since 16 January 2025)	Nobody
Commercial property, landlord and tenant both unregistered	Nil	Nobody

Residential rent: when it is exempt

The exemption covers renting of a residential dwelling for use as a residence. Most families renting a flat never deal with GST at all. Two changes in 2022 narrowed it:

From 18 July 2022, the exemption stopped applying when the tenant is GST-registered. A company leasing a flat for staff, or a registered partnership firm, pays 18% under reverse charge, even if the landlord is an ordinary individual.
From 1 January 2023, a narrow relief returned. If the registered tenant is the proprietor of a sole proprietorship and rents the home in his personal capacity to live in, on his own account and not the business's, no GST applies.

So a salaried employee, a pensioner or an unregistered freelancer pays no GST on house rent. Note the words "for use as residence": a flat let out as an office or clinic does not get the exemption, so GST can apply if either side is registered.

Commercial rent: 18% and the landlord's threshold

Renting out a shop, office, godown, factory shed or land for business is a taxable service at 18% (9% CGST plus 9% SGST within a state). A landlord must register for GST once aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh in a financial year (₹10 lakh in a few special category states). Two points are often missed:

Aggregate turnover counts all supplies made across India under one PAN, including exempt ones such as residential rent. A landlord who only lets homes to families, however much the rent, does not need to register, but one with both kinds of income adds them together.
Once registered, the landlord charges GST on the whole commercial rent, not just the part above ₹20 lakh.

Reverse charge on rent from unregistered landlords

Since 10 October 2024, when an unregistered person rents out any immovable property other than a residential dwelling to a registered person, the tenant pays the 18% directly to the government. The tenant issues a self-invoice, reports the tax in GSTR-3B, pays it in cash and can usually claim the same amount as input tax credit if the premises are used for business. From 16 January 2025, tenants registered under the composition scheme are left out of this rule, since they cannot claim the credit back. Our guide to the reverse charge mechanism explains self-invoicing.

Hostels, paying guests and short stays

Accommodation charged at up to ₹20,000 per person per month is exempt if it is supplied for at least 90 continuous days (since 15 July 2024). This covers most student hostels and paying-guest arrangements. Short stays in hotels, guest houses or homestays are hotel accommodation, not residential renting: since 22 September 2025, rooms valued up to ₹7,500 a night attract 5% without input tax credit, and costlier rooms 18%.

What counts as part of the rent

Security deposit: a refundable deposit is not payment for the rental and carries no GST. If it is adjusted against rent or forfeited, GST applies to the amount used.
Maintenance, parking and electricity billed together with commercial rent are usually taxed with it at 18%. Electricity recovered at actual cost may be treated differently, so check how the invoice shows it.
Rent increases and arrears: GST applies to the full amount when it is invoiced or paid.

Worked example. A registered trading firm rents a shop for ₹50,000 a month.
Landlord registered: the invoice shows rent ₹50,000 + CGST ₹4,500 + SGST ₹4,500 = ₹59,000. The firm pays ₹59,000 and claims ₹9,000 as input tax credit, so its real cost stays ₹50,000.
Landlord unregistered: the firm pays ₹50,000 to the landlord, issues itself an invoice and pays ₹9,000 (18% of ₹50,000) to the government under reverse charge. It claims the same ₹9,000 as credit. Over a year that is ₹1,08,000 paid in cash and claimed back.
A landlord with mixed income: ₹12,00,000 a year from a shop plus ₹9,60,000 from flats let to families comes to ₹21,60,000, above ₹20 lakh. The landlord must register and charge 18% on the shop rent only, which is ₹2,16,000 a year. The house rent stays exempt.

GST and income tax are separate

GST on rent is an indirect tax collected from the tenant and passed to the government. The landlord still pays income tax on rental income (see tax on rental income), and some tenants must deduct TDS on rent, which is an income-tax matter that does not change the GST. To add 18% to a rent figure or take it out, use the GST calculator. The rules themselves are in the service rate notifications on the CBIC GST site.