GST for Hotels and Tourism Businesses in Srinagar (2026 Guide)

Kashmir tourism is back at record levels — Dal Lake houseboats, Gulmarg ski resorts, Pahalgam camps and Srinagar boutique hotels are all running tight occupancy. With that comes GST compliance complexity, OTA commission ITC, and the seasonal cash-flow pressure of running a hospitality business in the Valley. Here's the 2026 playbook.

GST rates for Srinagar hotels & tourism (FY 2025-26)

• Room tariff up to ₹7,500/night — 12% GST with full ITC
• Room tariff above ₹7,500/night — 18% GST with full ITC
• Restaurant inside a hotel where any room is above ₹7,500 — 18% with ITC; otherwise 5% without ITC
• Standalone restaurants — 5% without ITC (most Lal Chowk and Boulevard Road eateries fall here)
• Houseboats & shikara rentals — taxed like accommodation services, slab depends on tariff
• Tour operator packages — 5% GST without ITC (composite scheme); or 18% with full ITC under regular scheme

OTA commissions — Booking, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Airbnb

Online travel agencies charge 15–22% commission and add GST on it. The good news: you can claim the full GST charged by the OTA as ITC in your GSTR-3B, provided:

• The OTA has issued a tax invoice in your hotel's GSTIN
• The invoice is appearing in your GSTR-2B / IMS for that month
• You've paid the commission within 180 days

Reconciling OTA invoices monthly is the single biggest ITC leak we see for Srinagar hotels. A clean monthly reconciliation typically recovers ₹40,000–₹2,00,000 of lost ITC per season.

ITC opportunities most Kashmir hotels miss

• Rent / lease of the hotel building (if landlord charges GST)
• Housekeeping consumables, linen, toiletries, kitchen LPG (commercial cylinder)
• Diesel generator AMC, lift AMC, fire-safety AMC — full GST creditable
• Marketing & digital ads on Google, Meta and OTAs
• Laundry services outsourced to a GST-registered vendor

Items that are blocked under Section 17(5): motor vehicles for staff, food & beverages consumed in-house, club memberships, and construction of the hotel building itself.

Seasonal turnover & QRMP for Kashmir hospitality

Most Srinagar properties earn 60–70% of revenue between March–October. If your annual turnover is below ₹5 crore, opt into QRMP — quarterly GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B with monthly PMT-06 tax payment. It dramatically eases winter compliance when revenue dips.

Place of supply & non-resident bookings

For hotel accommodation, place of supply is the location of the hotel (Srinagar/J&K). So you always charge CGST + SGST regardless of where the guest is from — including foreign tourists. There is no IGST or zero-rating for accommodation services to foreigners visiting India.

Related reads

• GST return due dates FY 2025-26
• Tax Consultant in Srinagar — local advisory
• GST Fee Calculator