Refund to Indian Exporters under GST Law

Dated: 13.05.2020

Introduction:

Under GST Law, when exporter, who are registered under the law, supplies goods or services or both to outside India such supplies are known as Zero Rated Supplies. [S. 16 – IGST Act, 2017]

Such an exporter may make Zero Rated Supplies and claim refund pursuant to S. 54 of CGST Act, 2017 r.w.r 89 & 96 of CGST Rules, 2017, under either of the following two scenarios –

(a) Without payment of taxes (IGST) – Under Letter of Undertaking (LUT); and

(b) With payment of taxes (IGST)

and claim refund of eligible amount of Input Tax Credits (ITC) remains un-utilized in Electronic Credit Ledger or claim refund of taxes paid (IGST) on such goods or services or both. Exports also are eligible to claim the refund of ITC even when they are supplying goods or service or both which are exempt supplies pursuant to S. 11 of the CGST Act, 2017.

Refund includes refund of taxes paid on –

a. Zero rated supplies of goods or services or both; or

b. Input or input services used in making such zero rated supplies; or

c. Supply of goods regarded as deemed exports; or

d. Refund of un-utilized input tax credit on Zero rated supplies.

A. Refund under Letter of Undertaking (LUT):

Ineligibility:

Exporters will not be eligible to claim refund under following situations / circumstances –

i. Exported goods are subject to export duty [items covered under The Second Schedule to the Custom Tariff Act, 1975 – viz. Coffee, Tea, Black pepper, Cardamom, Turmeric, Basmati Rice, Groundnut in shell, Animal feed, Tobacco, Iron ore, Manganese, Bauxite etc.

ii. Exporters’ avails drawback in respect of central tax[1]. There is no restriction if drawback is in respect of Custom duty and State Tax.;

iii. Exporters claims refund of IGST paid on such supplies;

Time period for claiming refund:

Refund claim have to be submitted before the expiry of two years from the relevant date.

Relevant date for exports of goods have to be determined as under –

Exports through	Determination of date
Sea or Air	Date on which the ship or the air craft in which such goods loaded, leaves India
Land	Date on which such goods passes the frontier
Post	Date of dispatch of goods by Post Office concerned to a place outside India

Relevant date for export of services have to be determined as under –

Event	Determination of date
Supply of services completed prior to the receipt of payment.	Date of receipt of payment in convertible foreign exchange or in Indian rupees wherever permitted by RBI.
Payment of service has been received in advance prior to the date of issue of invoice.	Date of issue of invoice.

 Refund Application:

Refund application have to be filed in Form GST RFD-01A through the common portal, take a print out of the same and submit it physically to the jurisdictional tax office along with all supporting documents. Further processing of these refund applications, i.e. issuance of acknowledgement of the refund application, issuance of deficiency memo, passing of provisional/final order, payment advice etc. was also being done manually. However, w.e.f. 26-09-2019, all the refund applications shall be filed in Form GST RFD 01 and provide details in Statement – 3 & 3A in Annexure 1 on the common portal and the same shall be processed electronically. On filing of application, the electronic credit ledger shall be debited by an amount equal to the refund so claimed. The refund application has to be accompanied by following documents / details –

i. a statement containing the number and date of shipping bills or bills of export and the number and the date of the relevant export invoices, in a case where the refund is on account of export of goods; [R. 89 (2) (b)]

ii. statement containing the number and date of invoices and the relevant Bank Realization Certificates or Foreign Inward Remittance Certificates, as the case may be, in a case where the refund is on account of the export of services; [R. 89 (2) (c)]

iii. A undertaking to be furnished electronically along with refund claim, in respect of return of refund to the Government with interest, in cases if it is subsequently found that requirement of S. 16 (2) © r. w Rule 42 (2) have not been complied with. [Para 7 of Circular No. 125/44/2019 – GST, dated 18-11-2019]

Determination of refund amount:

Refund of input tax credit shall be granted as under –

Refund amount = Turnover of zero rated supply of goods and services             Net

 —————————————————————————    x       ITC

Adjusted Total Turnover

(A) “Refund amount” means the maximum refund that is admissible;

(B) “Net ITC” means input tax credit availed on inputs and input services during the relevant period other than the input tax credit availed for which refund is claimed under sub-rules (4A) or (4B) or both;

(C) “Turnover of zero-rated supply of goods”[2] means the value of zero-rated supply of goods made during the relevant period without payment of tax under bond or letter of undertaking or the value which is 1.5 times the value of like goods domestically supplied by the same or, similarly placed, supplier, as declared by the supplier, whichever is less, other than the turnover of supplies in respect of which refund is claimed under sub-rules (4A) or (4B) or both;

(D) “Turnover of zero-rated supply of services” means the value of zero-rated supply of services made without payment of tax under bond or letter of undertaking, calculated in the following manner, namely:-

Zero-rated supply of services is the aggregate of the payments received during the relevant period for zero-rated supply of services and zero-rated supply of services where supply has been completed for which payment had been received in advance in any period prior to the relevant period reduced by advances received for zero-rated supply of services for which the supply of services has not been completed during the relevant period;

(E) Adjusted Total Turnover means the sum total of the value of-

(a)   the turnover in a State or a Union territory, as defined under clause (112) of section 2, excluding the turnover of services; and

(b)  the turnover of zero-rated supply of services determined in terms of clause (D) above and non-zero-rated supply of services, excluding-

  (i)  the value of exempt supplies other than zero-rated supplies; and

  (ii) the turnover of supplies in respect of which refund is claimed under sub-rule (4A) or sub-rule (4B) or both, if any, during the relevant period.

Definition of “Turnover of Zero rated supply of goods” which was substituted from 23-03-2020, requires clarity and it is expected that board will clarify the matter at earliest. Further, it appears that restriction provided in the definition is also discriminatory and hence may be challenged before Court of Law.

Calcualtion of Refund Claim pursuant to Rule 89 (4) of CGST Rules, 2017
	Qty	Rate	Amount	%
Sales of Machines
Exports	2,500	1,25,000	31,25,00,000	73.53%
Domestic	1,500	75,000	11,25,00,000	26.47%
	4,000		42,50,00,000
		Net	Tax
Purchases of parts & components
Item of 18%		27,50,00,000	4,95,00,000
Item of 12%		5,00,00,000	1,80,00,000
Item of 5%		80,00,000	4,00,000
		43,30,00,000	6,79,00,000
Turnover of Zero Rated supplies – Lower of (a) & (b)			28,12,50,000
Adjusted total Turnover			42,50,00,000
(i)    FOB value of exports	(a)		31,25,00,000
(ii)  Value of like goods supplied domestically		28,12,50,000
(iii)  Value of like goods supplied by similarly placed supplier		22,50,00,000
Value declared by the supplier in refund claim (b)			28,12,50,000
	FOB Value of Exports	Value of  Domestic  Sales	Value of sale by similar placed supplier
Machines	31,25,00,000	18,75,00,000	15,00,00,000
Value enhanced by 150%	0	28,12,50,000	22,50,00,000

Net ITC x Turnover of Zero Rated supplies

Adjusted Total Turnover

6,79,00,000 x 28,12,50,000

42,50,00,000

Eligible Refund after 23-03-2020	4,49,33,824
Eligible Refund before 23-03-2020	4,99,26,471

6,79,00,000 x 31,25,00,000

42,50,00,000

Determination of Refund amount as per GSTIN Portal:

Common portal of GSTIN will calculates the refundable amount as the least of the following amounts:

a) The maximum refund amount as per the formula in rule 89(4) or rule 89(5) of the CGST Rules [formula is applied on the consolidated amount of ITC,e. Central tax + State tax/Union Territory tax +Integrated tax];

b) The balance in the electronic credit ledger of the applicant at the end of the tax period for which the refund claim is being filed after the return in FORM GSTR-3B for the said period has been filed; and

c) The balance in the electronic credit ledger of the applicant at the time of filing the refund application.

After calculating the least of the three amounts, as detailed above, the equivalent amount is to be debited from the electronic credit ledger of the applicant in the following order:

a) Integrated tax, to the extent of balance available;

b) Central tax and State tax/Union Territory tax, equally to the extent of balance available and in the event of a shortfall in the balance available in a particular electronic credit ledger (say, Central tax), the differential amount is to be debited from the other electronic credit ledger (i.e., State tax/Union Territory tax, in this case).

The order of debit described above, however, is not presently available on the common portal. Till the time such facility is made available on the common portal, the taxpayers are advised to follow the order as explained above for all refund applications. However, for applications where this order is not adhered to by the applicant, no adverse view may be taken by the tax authorities. In such a scenario, RFD-03 will be issued and applicant have to again submit the refund application.

The above system validations are being clarified so that there is no ambiguity in relation to the process through which an application in FORM GST RFD-01 is generated. [Para 36 to 38 of 125/44/2019 – GST, dated 18-11-2019].

Certain Clarifications:

1. Board has issued master circular on refund No. 125/44/2019 – GST, dated 18-11-2019.

2. During the processing of the refund claim, the value of the goods declared in the GST invoice and the value in the corresponding shipping bill / bill of export should be examined and the lower of the two values should be sanctioned as refund. [Para 9 of Circular No. 37/11/2018 – GST, dated 15-03-2018]

3. Procedure for rectification of errors made while filing the returns in Form GSTR-3B has been provided in Circular No. 26/26/2017 – GST, dated 29-12-2017.

4. Self-declaration for non-prosecution is not warranted with every claim of refund, in cases of exports of goods under LUT. [Para 7 of Circular No. 37/11/2018 – GST, dated 15-03-2018]

5. It has been clarified that tax payers can club the refund of different months across the successive financial years[3]. Restriction on bunching of refund claims across financial years shall not apply based on the pronouncement of Hon’ble Delhi High Court in Order dated 21.01.2020, in the matter of M/s Pitambra Books P. Ltd. vide circular no. 135/05/2020 – CGST, dated 31-03-2020.

6. Refund of accumulated ITC shall be restricted to the ITC as per those invoices, the details of which are uploaded by the supplier in FORM GSTR-1 and are reflected in the FORM GSTR-2A of the applicant. [Para 5 of Circular No. 135/05/2020 – CGST, dated 31-03-2020].

7. Applicant have to furnish details of inward supplies / details of invoices reflecting in Form GSTR-2A in Annexure B. Further, applicant also have to mention HSN/SAC code which is mentioned on the inward invoices. In cases where supplier is not mandated to mention HSN/SAC code on invoice, the applicant need not mention HSN/SAC code in respect of such an inward supply. [Para 6 of Circular No. 135/05/2020 – CGST, dated 31-03-2020].

8. Any refund claim for a tax period may be filed only after furnishing all the returns in FORM GSTR-1 and FORM GSTR-3B which were due to be furnished on or before the date on which the refund application is being filed.

9. In cases, where zero-rated supplies were made before filing the LUT and refund claims for unutilized input tax credit got filed. In this regard, it is emphasized that the substantive benefits of zero rating may not be denied where it has been established that exports in terms of the relevant provisions have been made. The delay in furnishing of LUT in such cases may be condoned and the facility for export under LUT may be allowed on ex post facto basis taking into account the facts and circumstances of each case. [Para 4 of Circular No. 37/11/2018 – GST, dated 15-3-2018 & Para 44 of Circular No. 135/05/2020 – CGST, dated 31-03-2020.]

10. It is clarified that “Net ITC” in the formula provided will not include credit pertains to “Transitional Credit” as the transitional credit pertains to duties and taxes paid under the existing laws viz., under Central Excise Act, 1944 and Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994, the same cannot be said to have been availed during the relevant period and thus, cannot be treated as part of ‘Net ITC’ and thus no refund of such unutilized transitional credit is admissible. [Para 50 of Circular No. 135/05/2020 – CGST, dated 31-03-2020.]

11. Letter of Undertaking (LUT) for the FY 2020 – 2021 is to be obtained before the commencement of FY 2020 – 2021 or exports take place in the year 2020 – 2021. However, due to lock down in entire country, same was not obtained. Hence, it is clarified that in terms of N. No. 35/2020 – CT, time limit for filing of LUT for the year 2020 – 2021 shall stand extended to 30.06.2020 and the taxpayer can continue to make the supply without payment of tax under LUT provided that the FORM GST RFD-11 for 2020-21 is furnished on or before 30.06.2020. Taxpayers may quote the reference no of the LUT for the year 2019-20 in the relevant documents. [Para 4 of Circular No. 137/072020 – GST, dated 13-04-2020]

12. GST Law provides that refund application have to be submitted within 2 years from the relevant date. If date for making application expires on 31-03-2020, and applicant do not able to submit application due to lock down in entire country, it has been clarified that due date for filing an application will be extended to 30-06-2020 in terms of N. No. 35/2020 – CT, dated 03-04-20. [Para 6 of Circular No. 137/072020 – GST, dated 13-04-2020]

Time limit within which the goods or services are to be exported:

a. Goods have to be exported within a period of 3 months or such further period as may be allowed by commissioner[4], from the date of issue of invoice for exports. [Rule 96A (a)].

b. In respect of services, payment have to be realized in convertible foreign exchange or in Indian Rupees wherever permitted by RBI[5], within a period of 1 year from the date of issue of invoice for exports. [Rule 96A (b)]

If exporters failed to comply with above conditions, they are liable to pay tax due along with interest within a period of 15 days from the date of default. [Rule 96A] 

Grant of Refund:

Proper officer may refund on a provisional basis, 90% of the total amount so claimed, excluding the amount of input tax credit provisionally accepted in such manner and subject to such conditions, limitations, and safeguards. Thereafter make an order for final settlement of the refund claim after due verification of documents furnished by the applicant. [S. 54 (6)]

The provisional refund shall be issued within seven days (7) from the date of acknowledgement through GST form GST RFD-04.

The proper officer may issue final order for total refund in place of provisional refund within seven days from the date of acknowledgement through GST form GST RFD-06 if the proper officer is fully satisfied about the eligibility of a refund claim on account of zero-rated supplies, and is of the opinion that no further scrutiny is required.

Withholding of Refund:

Under following circumstances, proper officer will withheld the payment of refund

(a) Defaulted in furnishing any return;

(b) Defaulted in payment of tax, interest or penalty which is not stayed by any Court or Tribunal or Appellate Authority by the specified date. Specified date means the last date for filing an appeal under this Act.

Proper officer will withheld the refund due until the said person has furnished the return or paid the tax, interest or penalty, as the case may be or deduct from the refund due, any tax, interest, penalty, fee or any other amount which the taxable person is liable to pay but which remains unpaid under this Act or under the existing law. [S. 54(10)]

Provisional amount of refund is not as per refund application:

It may so happen that an applicant files a refund claim of INR 100.00 Lakhs on account of zero-rated supplies. The proper officer, after prima-facie examination of the application, sanctions INR 90.00 Lakhs as provisional refund through FORM GST RFD-04 and the same is electronically credited to his bank account. However, on detailed examination, it appears to the proper officer that only an amount of INR 70.00 Lakhs is admissible as refund to the applicant. In such cases, the proper officer shall have to issue a show-cause notice to the applicant, in FORM GST RFD-08, under section 54 of the CGST Act, read with section 73 or 74 of the CGST Act, requiring the applicant to show cause as to why:

i. the amount claimed of INR 30.00 Lakhs should not be rejected as per the relevant provisions of the law; and

ii. the amount of INR 20.00 Lakhs erroneously refunded should not be recovered under section 73 or section 74 of the CGST Act, as the case may be, along with interest and penalty, if any.

If the adjudicating authority decides against the applicant in respect of both points (i) and (ii) above, then an amount of INR 70.00 Lakhs will have to be sanctioned in FORM GST RFD-06, and an amount of INR 20.00 Lakhs, along with interest and penalty, if any, shall be entered by the officer in the electronic liability register of the applicant through issuance of FORM GST DRC-07. Further, if the application pertains to refund of unutilized/accumulated ITC, then INR 30.00 Lakhs, i.e. the amount rejected, shall have to be re-credited to the electronic credit ledger of the applicant through FORM GST PMT-03 subject to undertaking received from the applicant to the effect that he shall not file an appeal or in case he files an appeal, the same has been finally decided against the applicant. [Para 13 to 16 ofCircular No. 125/44/2019 – GST, dated 18-11-2019]

Rejection of Refund claim:

In case of rejection of refund claim of unutilized/accumulated ITC due to ineligibility of the ITC under any provisions of the CGST Act and rules made thereunder, the proper officer shall have to issue a show cause notice (SCN) in FORM GST RFD-08, requiring the applicant to show cause as to why:

(a) the refund amount corresponding to the ineligible ITC should not be rejected as per the relevant provisions of the law; and

(b) the amount of ineligible ITC should not be recovered as wrongly availed ITC under S. 73 & 74 of the CGST Act, along with interest and penalty, if any.

The above notice shall be adjudicated following the principles of natural justice and an order shall be issued, in FORM GST RFD-06. If the adjudicating authority decides against the applicant in respect of both points (a) and (b) above, then FORM GST RFD-06 shall have to be issued accordingly, and the amount of ineligible ITC, along with interest and penalty, if any, shall be entered by the officer in the electronic liability register of the applicant through issuance of FORM GST DRC-07.

Alternatively, the applicant can voluntarily pay this amount, along with interest and penalty, as applicable, before service of the demand notice, and intimate the same to the proper officer in FORM GST DRC-03 in accordance with S. 73(5) or S. 74(5).

In any case, the proper officer shall order for the rejected amount to be re-credited to the electronic credit ledger of the applicant using FORM GST PMT-03, only after the receipt of an undertaking from the applicant to the effect that he shall not file an appeal or in case he files an appeal, the same is finally decided against the applicant. [Para 20 & 21 of Circular No. 125/44/2019 – GST, dated 18-11-2019]

Undertaking / Declaration required for refund of un-utilized ITC on account of exports without payment of tax i.e. under LUT

1. Declaration that goods exported out of India are not subjected to any export duty;

2. Declaration that applicant had not availed any drawback of central excise duty/service tax/central tax on goods or services or both;

3. Declaration that applicant had not claimed refund of the integrated tax paid on supplies in respect of which refund is claimed;

4. Declaration that the refund of ITC claimed in the application does not include ITC availed on goods or services used for making ‘nil’ rated or fully exempt supplies;

5. Undertaking to deposit to the Government the amount of refund sanctioned along with interest in case of non-receipt of foreign exchange remittances as per the proviso to S. 16 of the IGST Act, 2017 read with rule 96B of the CGST Rules 2017;

6. Undertaking to pay back to the Government the amount of refund sanctioned along with interest, in case if it is found subsequently that supplier of goods or services or both have not actually paid the tax charged in respect of such supply to the Government exchequer for the said supply [S. 16(2)© read with R. 42(2)]. Applicant have to submit copy of GSTR-2A of relevant period of refund as supporting documents;

B. Refund under payment of Tax (IGST):

Refund Application:

Exporters need not have to make separate application of refund when goods or services or both are exported with payment of tax. The shipping bill filed by an exporter of goods shall be deemed to be an application for refund of integrated tax paid on the goods exported out of India and such application shall be deemed to have been filed only when:-

(a) the person in charge of the conveyance carrying the export goods duly files a departure manifest or an export manifest or an export report covering the number and the date of shipping bills or bills of export; and

(b) the applicant has furnished a valid return in FORM GSTR-3 or FORM GSTR-3B, as the case may be.

The details of the relevant export invoices in respect of export of goods contained in Table 6A of FORM GSTR-1 shall be transmitted electronically by the common portal of GSTIN to the system designated by the Custom (ICEGATE). If there is any mis-match in the invoices uploaded in the GSTIN portal, then such invoices will not be transmitted to the system designated by the Customs (ICEGATE). Exporters will receive the message of non-transmission of such invoices via registered email id. Rectification of errors need to be done in the GST returns of such non-transmitted invoices. Table 9A has been provided to carry out those corrections. If the exporter finds that even after the correct filing of return, their shipping bills do not reflect in Customs system (reflected in ICEGATE login of exporter), they may write to GSTN helpdesk.

The application for refund of integrated tax paid on the services exported out of India shall be filed in FORM GST RFD-01 and shall be dealt with in same manner as dealt for refund without payment of tax under Rule 89. Further declarant have to furnish details of exports in Statement 2 contained in Form GST RFD-01. 

Certain Errors & Mis-match:

The matching between the two data sources is done at invoice level and any mismatch of the laid down parameters results in one or more of the following errors or responses.

Incorrect Shipping Bill details (Error code SB001)

The possible reason for such mismatch could be a clerical error made by the exporter at the time of filling of GSTR 1/Table 6A. This can be rectified by making amendments in GSTR 1 by using Form 9A. 

EGM not filed (Error Code SB002)

Exporter has to approach their shipping line/airline/carrier to file the EGM immediately.

GSTIN mismatch (Error Code SB 003)

This error occurs when GSTIN declared in the Shipping Bill (SB) does not match with the GSTIN mentioned in the corresponding GST return. The exporter has to make necessary changes in SB.

Duplicate/repeat transmission of shipping bill (Error Code SB004)

This error occurs due to duplicate/repeat transmission of shipping bill – invoice record from GSTN. The previous transmission would have already been validated for IGST refund by ICES.

Mismatch of invoice number (Error code SB005)

This is the most common error committed by the exporters, which occurs due to mismatch in invoice declared in shipping bill and GSTR 1 for the same supply .This can happen due to:

(i) Typographical mistake while entering data in GSTR 1 or the SB.

(ii) The exporter uses two sets of invoices, one invoice for GST and another invoice for exports resulting in mismatch of invoice numbers.

If SB005 is due to a data entry mistake in GSTR 1, it can be amended in Form 9A. But any mistake in the SB cannot be amended once EGM is filed. Also, if the exporter has used a separate invoice in the SB, he cannot include that in his GSTR 1 in lieu of his GST invoice. CB&IC had issued many clarifications to overcome the problems of SB005 errors. Circular No’s. 42/2017 – Customs, dated 07-11-2017, 6/2018 – Customs, dated 16-03-2018, 8/2018 – Customs, dated 23-03-2018, 15/2018 – Customs, dated 06-06-2018, 22/2018 – Customs, dated 18-07-2018, 40/2018 – Customs, dated 24-10-2018, 01/2019 – Customs, dated 02-01-2019, 25/2019 – Customs, dated 27-08-2019, 26/2019 – Customs, dated 27-08-2019, 131/1/2020 – GST, dated 23-01-2020 and 22/2020 – Customs, dated 21-04-2020

Discontinuance of transference copy of shipping bill (Error SB 006)

Error SB006 occurs due to discontinuance of transference copy of shipping bill. An alternate mechanism to treat final Bill of Lading as valid document for integrated with EGM should be followed – CBI&C circular No. 08/2018-Customs dated 23-3-2018.

Mistake in description of shipping bill about payment of IGST

In some cases, exporter pays IGST but by mistake mentions ‘NA’ in shipping Bill instead of ‘P’. In such case, refund should be granted after verifying payment of IGST based on GST returns – CBI&C circular No. 08/2018-Customs dated 23-3-2018.

Other Reasons (Code SB000)

SB000 (Successfully Validated) is the response code which comes when all the decided parameters like GSTIN, SB number, invoice number etc. match between GSTN and Customs databases. This code implies that the SB is ready for inclusion in the IGST refund scroll. However, it might happen that even with SB000. the SB does not appear in the refund scroll. This could be due to:

(i) The exports might have been made under bond or LUT, hence not eligible for refund.

(ii) If a shipping bill covers multiple invoices, few of the invoices might have been successfully validated with code SB000 whereas other invoices might be containing other types of error/s.

(iii) Composite rate of drawback has been claimed for that SB during the transitional period between 01.07.2017 to 30.09.2017, thus making the SB ineligible for IGST refund.

(iv) Where the IGST claimed amount is less than Rs. 1000/-.

In all the above cases, the scroll amount shall automatically become zero and the SBs shall not be included in the refund scroll.

There are two more reasons where the SBs will figure in the temporary IGST scroll but not in the final scroll. This could happen if there is an alert/suspension on the IEC in ICES or if the account of the IEC is not validated by Public Finance Management System (PFMS). In case of multiple errors in the refund claim, each such error would be required to be corrected individually in order to get refund. In some cases the IGST Refund could not be disbursed due to Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) not being accepted by Public Financial Management System (PFMS) /not registered at PFMS, in this regards, JNCH (Nhava Sheva) has issued Public Notice No. 38/2018, dated 12-03-2018, for guidance to the trade / exporters.

Grant of Refund:

Automated System of Custom Department [ICEGATE] will verify the details submitted in GST returns with Shipping Bills and other data available with them, and if these details completely match, then refund of taxes would be credited into the bank account of exporters.

Recovery of Refund:

Exporters of goods are eligible to claim the refund of ITC on taxes paid on procurement of goods or services which are exported by them.

However, if the exporter fails to realize the export proceeds, whether full or in part, in India, within the time period (9 months) allowed under FEMA including the extension of time period if any allowed by FEMA, then exporter have to deposit the refund amount to the extent of non-realization of sale proceeds along with interest within 30 days of the time limit prescribed under FEMA. If exporter do not deposit the refund money, same will be recovered from him pursuant to S. 73 or 74 of the CGST Act. [Rule 96B][6]

The Government of India as well as the Reserve Bank has been receiving representations from Exporters Trade bodies to extend the period of realization of export proceeds in view of the outbreak of pandemic COVID- 19. It has, therefore, been decided, in consultation with Government of India, to increase the present period of realization and repatriation to India of the amount representing the full export value of goods or software or services exported, from nine months to fifteen months from the date of export, for the exports made up to or on July 31, 2020. [Circular No. 27 / RBI / 2019 – 2020 / 206, dated 01-04-2020]

If the sales proceeds or any part thereof is not realized within the stipulated time prescribed under FEMA but Reserve Bank of India (RBI) writes off the requirement of realization of sale proceeds on merits, the refund amount would not be recovered from such exporters.

If exporter realized the export proceeds, in full or part, after the amount has been recovered from him as mentioned aforesaid, in such scenario, exporters have to submit the proper proof or evidence of realization of export proceeds within in a period of 3 months from the realization of proceeds before the proper officer and then he will refund the amount to the exporters. However, realization of export proceeds should be within the extended time period permitted by RBI. 

Disclaimer: The contents of this document are solely for informational purpose. It does not constitute professional advice or recommendation of firm. Neither the authors nor firm and its affiliates accepts any liabilities for any loss or damage of any kind arising out of any information in this document nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Readers are advised to consult the professional for understanding applicability of this article in the respective scenarios. While due care has been taken in preparing this document, the existence of mistakes and omissions herein is not ruled out. No part of this document should be distributed or copied (except for personal, non-commercial use) without our written permission. 

Mehta & Shah

Chartered Accountants

Office No. 23 & 24 l Mezzanine Floor l Satyam Shopping Centre l M. G. Road l Ghatkopar (East)  Mumbai – 400 077 l +91 22 2102 4560 l +91 22 4176 4411 l Email: [email protected]

[1]  Para 2 of Circular No. 37/11/2018 – GST, dated 15-03-2018 & Para 40 of Circular No. 1 125/44/2019 – GST, dated 18-11-2019.

[2]    Substituted vide N. No.16/2020-CT dt.23.03.2020 for ―(C) “Turnover of zero-rated supply of goods” means the value of zero-rated supply of goods made during the relevant period without payment of tax under bond or letter of undertaking, other than the turnover of supplies in respect of which refund is claimed under sub-rules (4A) or (4B) or both;

[3]    Para 11 of Circular No. 37/11/2018 – GST, dated 15-03-2018

[4]  Inserted vide N. No. 47/2017-CT, dated 18.10.2017

[5]  Inserted vide N. No. 03/2019-CT, dated 29.01.2019 wef 01.02.2019

[6]  Inserted vide N. No. 16/2020-CT, dated 23.03.2020