GST Refunds Of Rs 82,775 Crore To Exporters Cleared; Rs 5,400 Crore Pending As On Oct. 31

The Finance Ministry said on Thursday that Goods and Services Tax refund of Rs 82,775 crore to exporters has been cleared as on Oct. 31, which is 93.8 percent of the total such claims with the tax authorities.

The ministry said in a statement GST refunds worth Rs 5,400 crore is pending with the government which is being "expeditiously processed".

"As on Oct. 31, 2018, total GST refunds to the tune of Rs 82,775 crore have been disposed by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs and the state authorities out of the total refund claims of Rs 88,175 crore received so far," the ministry said.

It said the disposal rate of GST refunds is 93.8 percent as on Oct. 31.

Giving the break-up of refunds, the ministry said that Rs 42,935 crore of Integrated Goods and Service Tax refunds have been disposed of as on Oct. 31, which is 93.27 percent of the total such claims.

As much as Rs 3,096 crore worth of IGST refund claims are held up on account of "various deficiencies" which have been communicated to exporters for remedial action.

With regard to refund of input tax credit claims, the ministry said of the total claims of Rs 42,145 crore, the pendency as on Oct. 31 stood at Rs 2,305 crore.

"Provisional/final order has been issued in case of ITC (input tax credit) refunds amounting to Rs 34,602 crore," the statement said. “In claims amounting to Rs 5,239 crore, deficiency memos have been issued by respective GST authorities."

The ministry said there are concerns there's a growing pendency of GST refunds and sought to assure the exporters that there's no let up in the sanction of GST refunds.

Efforts are being made continuously to clear all the pending refund claims, wherever requisite information is provided and found eligible, it said.