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Selling homemade cakes and bakes online in India: licences, GST rate and label rules

A home baker with turnover up to ₹1.5 crore needs FSSAI Basic registration (₹100 a year). Cakes, pastries and biscuits (HSN 1905) attract 5% GST from 22 September 2025, down from 18%, and an egg cake must carry the brown non-veg mark.

7 min read
Layer cake with white frosting, dripping chocolate glaze and dark cherries on top, on a white cake stand on a kitchen counter
Layer cake with white frosting, dripping chocolate glaze and dark cherries on top, on a white cake stand on a kitchen counter
In this post · 9 sections

Short answer: A home baker with turnover up to ₹1.5 crore needs FSSAI Basic registration (₹100 a year). Cakes, pastries and biscuits (HSN 1905) attract 5% GST from 22 September 2025, down from 18%, and an egg cake must carry the brown non-veg mark.

Rules and rates checked on 24 October 2026. Sources are listed at the end of this page.

Licences and registrations

WhatDo you need it?CostWhere
FSSAI Basic registrationYes, if annual turnover is up to ₹1.5 crore₹100 a yearfoscos.fssai.gov.in
FSSAI State licenceOnly if turnover is above ₹1.5 crore and up to ₹50 crore₹2,000 to ₹5,000 a year, depending on activity (FSSAI 2020 fee table)foscos.fssai.gov.in
FSSAI Central licence (e-commerce category)Check before launch₹7,500 a yearfoscos.fssai.gov.in
GST registrationYes for any inter-state sale; otherwise above ₹40 lakh turnoverNo fee stated in the sources usedgst.gov.in

FSSAI Basic registration. You are making and selling food. From 1 April 2026 the Basic registration ceiling rose from ₹12 lakh to ₹1.5 crore turnover, and FSSAI names home bakers among the businesses it now covers. Registrations issued from 1 April 2026 do not expire. The annual fee still has to be paid.

FSSAI State licence. Turnover bands changed on 1 April 2026. Above ₹50 crore a Central licence applies.

FSSAI Central licence (e-commerce category). FSSAI's eligibility table lists 'E-commerce' as a kind of business that needs a Central licence whatever the turnover. The table does not say whether a baker selling only their own cakes on their own website falls in that category. Ask your licensing authority before you take orders online.

GST registration. A notification exempts suppliers of goods from registering below ₹40 lakh turnover, but not people who must register under section 24. Shipping cookies or dry cakes to a buyer in another state is an inter-state sale, and that needs registration at any turnover.

GST rate and HSN code

HSN 1905: Pastry, cakes, biscuits and other bakers' wares, whether or not containing cocoa. GST rate: 5% (Notification 9/2025-CT(R), Schedule I, S.No. 123). Before 22 September 2025 it was 18%.

Schedule I, S.No. 123 of Notification 9/2025-CT(R) puts heading 1905 (pastry, cakes, biscuits and other bakers' wares, with or without cocoa) at 2.5% CGST plus 2.5% SGST, so 5% in total. The GST Council's sector-wise list shows pastry, cakes and biscuits moving from 18% to 5%.

Plain breads are treated differently. Notification 10/2025-CT(R), S.No. 100, exempts khakhra, bread (branded or otherwise), pizza bread, roti, chapathi, paratha, parotta and other Indian breads. Rusks and toasted bread (1905 40 00) sit at 5% under S.No. 124. A bakery that sells cakes, cookies and loaves therefore bills two rates. Cakes and cookies are taxed at 5%. Plain bread is exempt.

Worked example: one sale at ₹650

Price the buyer pays (GST included)₹650
Taxable value₹619.04
Buyer in your state: CGST + SGST₹15.48 + ₹15.48
Buyer in another state: IGST₹30.96

What the label and product page must show

  • Name the food on the front of the pack, for example 'Chocolate walnut cake', not only a brand name.
  • List ingredients and food additives, with the functional class and the INS number or name for each additive.
  • Declare allergens separately as 'Contains: wheat, milk, egg, nut' where they are present.
  • Show the brown triangle non-veg mark if the cake contains egg or any animal-origin ingredient other than milk or honey. If egg is the only non-veg ingredient you may add a statement saying so.
  • Print the expiry or use-by date. If shelf life is seven days or less, the date of manufacture may be left off, but the expiry date may not.
  • Print the FSSAI logo and 14-digit registration number, your name and full address, a batch or lot number, and nutrition information per 100 g.
  • Under Legal Metrology rules, show net quantity, MRP inclusive of all taxes, and consumer care details.
  • On the product page, show everything on the label before the customer pays, except the batch number and the manufacturing, best-before and expiry dates.

Packing, shipping and listing

A cake page needs the same facts as the box label, apart from the batch number and dates. Put the ingredients, allergens, veg or non-veg mark, net weight and MRP on the page itself, not only in a photo. Legal Metrology rule 6(10) and FSSAI Labelling regulation 4(2) both require this for online sales.

A cream cake that keeps for three days needs a clear use-by date on the box. If that date only holds when the cake is kept cold, the storage condition must be printed too, for example 'Keep refrigerated'. FSSAI's December 2024 advisory asks e-commerce food businesses to deliver products with at least 30% of shelf life left, or 45 days before expiry. Plan same-day or next-day delivery for fresh cakes.

In June 2026 FSSAI directed all food businesses to stop using metallic pins, wires or similar material to seal cake boxes, bakery products and food parcels. Tape or tuck-in closures avoid that problem.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Calling an egg cake 'veg' or using the green mark. Under the 2020 labelling regulations, egg makes a food non-vegetarian. So does gelatine of animal origin.
  • Stapling cake boxes shut. FSSAI's advisory of 12 June 2026 bans metallic pins and wires on cake boxes and sweet boxes, and violations can lead to penal action.
  • Charging 5% on everything. Plain bread, pizza bread, roti and khakhra are exempt under Notification 10/2025-CT(R), so a mixed bakery invoice carries two rates.
  • Calling a loaf 'whole wheat bread' without enough atta. Schedule II of the labelling regulations requires at least 75% whole wheat flour for that name. 'Honey bread' must contain at least 5% honey.
  • Shipping a dry cake to another state before GST registration. The ₹40 lakh exemption does not cover inter-state sales.

On your own Selzix store

You set the HSN code and GST rate on each product, and every order gets a GST invoice with the CGST and SGST or IGST split worked out from the buyer's state. Not sure you need GST at all? Read GST for online sellers in India.

Questions sellers ask

Do home bakers need an FSSAI licence?

Yes. Every food business needs at least FSSAI Basic registration. From 1 April 2026 that covers turnover up to ₹1.5 crore and costs ₹100 a year. Apply on foscos.fssai.gov.in and print the registration number on every box.

What is the GST rate on cakes?

5%. Cakes, pastries and biscuits fall under HSN 1905 in Schedule I, S.No. 123 of Notification 9/2025-CT(R). The rate was 18% until 21 September 2025.

Does an eggless cake need a green dot?

A cake with no egg or other animal-origin ingredient (milk and honey are allowed) is vegetarian food, so its package carries the green circle-in-square mark. If the cake has egg, it needs the brown triangle mark instead.

Sources

General information, not tax or legal advice. Rules change; check the source before you file or apply. Cover photo: Tim McErston on Unsplash.

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