# Religious Ceremonies & Renting of Religious Place Precincts — Entry 13

## Exemption

Services by a person by way of —

(a) Conduct of any religious ceremony (birth, death, marriage, special poojas by persons authorised under religious texts);

(b) Renting of precincts of a religious place meant for the general public, owned/managed by:

## Exception: Entry 13(b) does NOT exempt the following

Activity	Threshold (taxable if charges ≥)
Renting of rooms	₹1,000 per day
Renting of premises / community halls / kalyanmandapam / open area / similar	₹10,000 per day
Renting of shops / spaces for business / commerce	₹10,000 per month

If charges meet or exceed these limits, the renting becomes taxable.

## Definitions

Religious place — primarily meant for conducting prayers/worship pertaining to a religion, meditation, or spirituality.
General public — body of people at large, defined by common public or impersonal nature.
Precincts of religious place — all immovable property:
within the outer boundary wall of the complex, OR
located in immediate vicinity and surrounding the religious place AND owned/under same management as the religious place.

## Other activities

Anything other than conduct of religious ceremony and renting of precincts is taxable, regardless of name/manner of consideration.

Worked example

### Example 1

Temple trust rents kalyanmandapam at ₹8,000/day → Exempt (below ₹10,000).

### Example 2

Same trust rents kalyanmandapam at ₹15,000/day → Taxable on entire amount (crosses ₹10,000).

### Example 3

Priest charges ₹11,000 for conducting marriage ceremony → Exempt (Entry 13(a) — no monetary cap).

### Example 4

Trust rents shops inside temple complex to vendors at ₹12,000/month → Taxable (crosses ₹10,000/month).

⚠️ Common exam mistakes

Treating the threshold as 'taxable only on the excess' — the exemption is lost entirely when the threshold is reached.
Applying Entry 13(b) to renting NOT by a 12AA/12AB / 10(23C)(v) / 10(23BBA) entity — those don't qualify.
Ignoring the 'general public' requirement — closed/private religious places don't qualify.
Confusing 'religious ceremony' (Entry 13(a) — unlimited exemption) with renting of precincts (Entry 13(b) — thresholds apply).

Reference: Entry 13, Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) — Notification No. 12/2017-CT(R)

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Religious Ceremonies & Renting of Religious Precincts [Entry 13]

Worked example