Government Sanctions Rs 30,000-Crore GST Refunds To Exporters

The government has sanctioned Goods and Services Tax refunds worth Rs 30,000 crore to exporters so far in lieu of input tax credit and integrated GST paid by them.

Of the Rs 30,000 crore refunds, Rs 16,000 crore was refund for IGST paid, and Rs 14,000 crore was given as input tax credit to exporters, according to a finance ministry statement issued today. The input tax credit refund includes sanctions by both central and state governments.

Besides claims worth Rs 14,000 crore are pending with the government, the statement added. Of this, Rs 7,000 crore is refund of IGST paid on exports and the remaining is for unutilised input tax credit. The pending claims will be disbursed in a ‘special refund fortnight’ starting May 31. During this period, customs, central and state GST officers will clear all refund applications received on or before April 30.

Exporters have the option to pay IGST on exports and claim a refund. Or, they can claim a refund for taxes paid on inputs without paying tax at the time of export.

Exporters’ body Federation of Indian Exports Organization had yesterday said that GST refunds of about Rs 20,000 crore was pending with the government leading to a liquidity crisis for exporters, especially small and medium businesses.

Dues of exporters were pending since there was a mismatch in the invoice number, taxable value and the amount of IGST paid mentioned in shipping invoices as against GST returns filed by exporters, the Central Board of Excise and Customs had said in an earlier notification.