Guidelines for claiming IGST refund on exports and other procedural requirements

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CBEC vide Instruction No. 15/2017-Customs dated 09 October, 2017 has issued detailed guidelines for claiming IGST refund on exports. Summary of the guidelines are provided below:

1. REFUND PROCESSING FOR JULY 2017 EXPORTS

• The GST council has recommended that IGST refund for exports made in July 2017 should start by 10 October 2017 instead of 10 November 2017 being the due date of filing of GSTR-3 for the month of July 2017.
• The refund for the month of August would be cleared from 18 October 2017 and refunds for subsequent months would be handled expeditiously.

2. PRE-CONDITIONS FOR IGST REFUND

• The Shipping bill filed by an exporter shall be deemed to be an application for refund of integrated tax paid on the goods exported.
• Filing of correct EGM (Export General Manifest) is must for considering shipping bill or bill of export as a refund claim.
• The applicant has furnished a valid return in GSTR -3 or GSTR 3B.

3. BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS

• As per rule 96 of CGST rules 2017, the refund is to be credited in the bank account as mentioned at the time GST registration.
• In case, bank account details available with the Customs department do not match with bank details provided for GST registration, refund would be credited in the bank account available with the Customs department to ensure smooth processing of refund.
• Further, as the payments are being routed through PFMS portal, bank account details need to be verified and validated by PFMS.
• The status of validation of bank account with PFMS is available in ICES.

4. GSTR-1 TABLE 6A FOR AUGUST, 2017 (Separate Utility)

• Due date of furnishing GSTR-1 for August, 2017 has not been notified yet. Hence, a separate utility for filing details in table 6A (export details) of GSTR-1 would be available on the GST portal specifically for ease of completion of procedural requirement of refund application.

5. POWER TO WITHHOLD REFUND

• The proper officer will withhold the refund on request made by the Jurisdictional Commissioner of Central tax, State tax, or Union territory tax and copy of intimation for withholding of refund has to be transmitted on the common portal to the applicant.

NANGIA’S TAKE:

While considering the various inference for claiming refund under GST due to procedural intricacies, CBEC is taking initiative to fasten the process of refunds. This would result reduction in working capital requirements.

These guidelines would ensure a smooth processing of refund of IGST paid on export of goods. Further, it would provide immediate relief to the export sector and enhance export competitiveness of India. In view of such steps taken by the council, the current situation of the depressed exporters would get much awaited relief and will change GST on a positive note.