GST on Gym Membership

Gym and fitness services attract 5% GST (without ITC) under SAC code 999723. This applies to monthly, quarterly, and annual memberships, personal training sessions, group fitness classes, day passes, and locker rentals. On a local sale it splits into 2.5% CGST and 2.5% SGST. For inter-state supplies, charge IGST at 5% instead. The rate is the same whether your gym is budget or premium.

The 5% rate is mandatory. You cannot elect to charge 18% so that you can keep your input tax credit — the CBIC has confirmed the no-ITC rate applies to all fitness service providers. Any guide still quoting 18% with ITC is describing the position before September 2025.

Registration thresholds: GST registration is mandatory once aggregate turnover crosses ₹20 lakh, or ₹10 lakh in special category states such as Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and the north-eastern states. Below the threshold you may register voluntarily, but because fitness services now carry no ITC, voluntary registration mainly helps if most of your members are GST-registered businesses that need a tax invoice. Multi-state gyms need a separate registration in each state.

Every invoice must include your business name, GSTIN, a sequential invoice number, the member's details, the service description, SAC code 999723, the taxable value, and the CGST/SGST split (2.5% each for intra-state) or IGST at 5% for inter-state, plus the total. For example, a ₹1,500 monthly membership invoices as ₹1,500 taxable value, ₹37.50 CGST and ₹37.50 SGST, for a total of ₹1,575. Keep invoice numbers sequential — INV-2026-001, INV-2026-002 — because unexplained gaps are a common cause of scrutiny.

Input tax credit is the part that quietly costs gym owners money. Because the 5% rate is charged without ITC, the GST you pay on equipment, rent, utilities and software can no longer be offset against the GST you collect from members. A ₹2,00,000 treadmill still attracts 18% GST under HSN 9506 — ₹36,000 — but that amount is now a straight cost rather than a credit. The same applies to your gym rent. Model the real saving before committing to a large equipment purchase.

Some supplies sit outside the 5% service rate. Protein bars, supplements and packaged food attract 12% or 18% depending on the product, branded merchandise attracts 12% to 28%, and renting gym space to a personal trainer or yoga instructor is an 18% supply. Corporate memberships generally do not let the employer claim GST either: club and health-fitness memberships are on the blocked-credit list under Section 17(5).

Filing: a registered gym files GSTR-1 for outward supplies and GSTR-3B for the summary return and tax payment. Most small gyms with turnover under ₹5 crore can use the quarterly QRMP scheme, filing GSTR-1 quarterly and paying tax monthly through the PMT-06 challan. Reconcile your membership collections against GSTR-1 every month — a mismatch between billed memberships and reported turnover is the most common reason gyms receive a GST notice.

Gyms24 tracks every payment, generates GST-ready invoices with SAC code 999723 and gives you revenue reports that reconcile to your return. Start a 1-month free trial, then ₹399/month.