GST Export Refund

Refunds relating to export of goods and services are governed by Section 54 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017, read with Rule 89 of the CGST Rules, 2017.

Zero-rated supply refund route (Section 54(3)): Exporters who supply goods or services without payment of integrated tax, under a Letter of Undertaking (LUT), may claim a refund of the unutilised Input Tax Credit accumulated on inputs and input services used in making the zero-rated supply. The refund application is filed electronically in FORM RFD-01.

Relevant date for exports (Explanation 2 to Section 54): For export of goods, the relevant date is the date on which the ship or aircraft carrying the goods leaves India, or — where goods are exported by land — the date the goods cross the frontier, or the date of dispatch by post. For export of services, the relevant date is the date of receipt of payment in convertible foreign exchange, or, where payment is received in advance of the export, the date of invoice. The two-year limitation period under Section 54(1) runs from this relevant date.

Documentation (Rule 89): The application must be supported by shipping bills or bills of export, the GSTR-2B/ITC statement, and — for service exports — the Bank Realisation Certificate/Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (BRC/FIRC) evidencing receipt of foreign exchange. Claims exceeding ₹2 lakh require a certificate under Rule 89(2)(m) confirming that the incidence of tax has not been passed on.

Timeline: A provisional refund of 90% of the claimed amount may be sanctioned within 7 days for exporters under Section 54(6); full sanction is otherwise due within 60 days, beyond which interest accrues under Section 56.

GST export refund is the mechanism by which an exporter recovers the input tax credit that would otherwise block cash in the export business. Under Section 54 of the CGST Act 2017 and Rules 89 and 96 of the CGST Rules, an exporter making zero-rated supplies can claim a refund of unutilised input tax credit — either by exporting with payment of IGST and claiming refund of that IGST (the shipping bill route under Rule 96, where the refund is deemed applied and sanctioned from the shipping bill data), or by exporting under bond or LUT and claiming refund of the accumulated credit under Rule 89. The refund is the exporter's own money coming back.

The refund is the cash cycle of the export business. The credit accumulates because the inputs carry GST while the exports are zero-rated; without the refund, the accumulation sits in the electronic credit ledger and the exporter effectively funds the government with working capital. The refund process is where that capital returns — and it returns faster when the claim is built right the first time.

The cost of a broken refund claim is the blocked cash and the rejection cycle: claims filed with mismatched shipping bills, wrong ledgers or missing invoices are returned or rejected under the deficiency process, and every cycle is more weeks of working capital locked. The claims that sail through are the ones built from the ledger position and the shipping bill data before filing.

This service is for exporters — goods and services, including deemed exports. We map your export supplies to the right refund route under Rule 89 or Rule 96, reconcile the shipping bills and the invoices, prepare and file the refund application, track the sanction and the payment under Section 54, and handle the deficiencies and the appeals when they come.