Refund of IGST paid on export of goods under Rule 96 of CGST Rules 2017

Circular No.ES/ 181  /2017-18                                                             October 13, 2017  

To: Members of the Council

Sub: Refund of IGST paid on export of goods under Rule 96 of CGST Rules 2017

Dear Member,

With the GST Council giving its decision to commence the process of IGST Refund from 10^th October, 2017 for the month of July and from mid October for the month of August, the CBEC has now directed its field officers to follow certain guidelines which is given in CBEC Instruction No. 15/ 2017- Customs dated 09.10.2017 :

1. Export General Manifest

Filing of correct EGM is a must for treating shipping bill or bill of export as a refund claim. Exporters may be advised that they should follow up with their carriers to ensure that correct EGM/export reports are filed in a timely manner.

2. Details of export supplies in Table 6A of GSTR-1

Exporters must file their GSTR-1 very carefully to ensure that all relevant details match. For their convenience, the details available in the Customs System have been made available for viewing in their ICEGATE login.

3. Valid return in Form GSTR-3 or Form GSTR-3B

Exporters may be advised that they must file GSTR-3 or GSTR-3B returns expeditiously without waiting for the last date, to ensure that their refund is processed in a timely manner.

4. Bank account details

The refund is to be credited in the bank account of the applicant mentioned in his registration particulars. As a practice, exporters have been declaring details of bank account to Customs for the purpose of drawback etc. There is a possibility that bank account details available with Customs do not match with those declared in the GST registration form. In order to ensure smooth processing and payment of refund of IGST paid on exported goods, it has been decided that said refund amount shall be credited to the bank account of the exporter registered with Customs even if it is different from the bank account of the applicant mentioned in his registration particulars. However, exporters may be advised to either change the bank account declared to Customs to align it with their GST registration particulars or add the account declared with Customs in their GST registration details.

5. Processing of refund claims

Proper officer of each jurisdiction shall generate a payment scroll of eligible IGST refunds in the same manner as RoSL scrolls are generated. The scroll shall be transmitted electronically to PFMS system for onward payment into their bank accounts. Unlike RoSL where paper scrolls are to be sent by field formations, in this case, electronic verification will be done centrally by a DDO appointed in this regard. Detailed EDI procedure for processing of claims and generation of refund scrolls is being circulated by Directorate of Systems. CBEC. DG-Systems is also laying down the procedure for payment and accounting in consultation with Pr. CCA CBEC and CGA of India. Proper officers may be designated in each Commissionerate. who should be in readiness to start generating refund scrolls from 10.10.2017 onwards.

With the GST Council recommending immediate disbursal of refund to exporters the CBEC explored the possibility with the Chief Controller of Accounts but the same expressed its inability on account of its ongoing migration of existing hardware and software infra of PFMS which is given in Instruction No. 16/ 2017- Customs dated 09.10.2017 .

For more details and information on the above matter, members may kindly refer to the Instructions cited in the Circular.

Thanking You,

SRIJIB ROY
ADDITIONAL DIRECTOR