Govt. of India Ministry of Finance Dept. of Revenue Central Board of
Excise and Customs
Circular No. 42/2017-Customs
Room No.229-A, North Block, New Delhi 7th November, 2017
To,
All Principal Chief Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Prey.).
All Chief Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Prey.). All Principal
Commissioners of Customs / Customs (Prey.). All Commissioner of Customs of
Customs / Customs (Prey.).
Subject: Refunds of IGST paid on export of goods under Rule 96 of CGST Rules,
2017
The GST Council in its 22nd Meeting had approved a major relief package for
exporters. The Council was unanimous that it is in the national interest to take
all possible measures to support the exporting community, which earns valuable
foreign exchange and provides significant employment especially in the small and
medium sector. The Council approved that by 10.10.2017 the refund of IGST paid
on goods exported in July would begin to be paid and refunds for subsequent
months would be handled expeditiously. In line with the government’s commitment,
CBEC has already issued suitable instructions to expeditiously disburse the
refund of IGST paid on goods exported out of India. Also, with effect from 10th
October, 2017, the refund is getting disbursed for the export of goods made in
July 2017. In cases where the exporter has filed GSTR 3B and the information
furnished by the exporters in the GSTR 1 and GSTR 313 is matching with the
details filed by them in Shipping bills, the refunds have already been
disbursed. But there are many cases where the refund of IGST could not be done
due to errors in the EGM /GSTR 1 return/Shipping Bill. The analysis of the
common errors that are hindering the disbursal of IGST refund, and decisions
taken to address such errors are as follows:
A. IGST refunds for the
exports of goods in the month of July, 2017:
i) Incorrect SB number in
GSTR 1
There are cases where the shipping bill number quoted in GSTR 1
either does not exist or it pertains to another exporter. In respect of these
claims, the only way out is to amend the GSTR 1(Amendments to taxable outward
supply details furnished in returns for earlier tax periods) and enter the
correct shipping bill number. In these cases, the amendments for information
furnished in GSTR 1 for July 2017 need to be filed in Table 9A of GSTR 1 for
August 2017. GSTN has been asked to provide for immediate implementation of this
Table so that all such claims can be processed once amendment is filed.
ii) Invoice number and IGST paid amount mis-match
Analysis of data
revealed that exporters have quoted different invoice numbers for GST and
Customs purposes. Also, IGST paid amount indicated in GSTR 1 is not tallying
with IGST paid amount indicated in shipping bill. As the same transaction is
being reported under GST Act and under Customs Act, the exporters may take care
to ensure the details of invoice, such as Invoice number, IGST paid etc, under
GSTR 1 and shipping bill match with each other.
iii) EGM Error
Due
to either mismatch in information furnished in Export General Manifest (EGM)
vis-à-vis shipping bill or non-filing of EGM in certain cases, the compliance of
‘exported out of India’ requirement in Rule 96 (2) of Central Goods and Services
Tax (CGST) Rules, 2017 remained unfulfilled. It is also noticed that Gateway EGM
in case of many ICD’s Shipping Bills have been manually filed, due to which the
system is unable to match the EGM details. Hence, it is to be ensured that all
the shipping lines operating in ICDs/Gateway ports file EGM online. All ICDs and
Gateway ports have already been instructed to ensure that shipping lines file
supplementary EGM online for the consignments exported in July 2017 by 31st
October. For subsequent months also, the ICDs must ensure that the shipping
lines invariably file the Gateway EGM online. In cases where supplementary EGM
have been filed successfully, refunds are already being given.
iv) Wrong
Bank Account given to Customs
In some cases, bank account details
available with Customs have been invalidated by PFMS. Reports on such accounts /
IECs have been provided to the Commissionerates by the Directorate of Systems in
ICES and by email. Exporters may be advised that if the account has not been
validated by PFMS, they must get their details corrected in the EDI system.
Exporters are also advised not to change their bank account details frequently
so as to avoid delay in refund payment.
B. IGST Refunds for the export of
goods in the month of August, 2017:
GSTN has provided the utility to
declare Table 6A in GSTR1 for exporters to fill in information related to Zero
Rated Supplies. Once exporters file Table 6A, it would be possible to sanction
refunds for the exports made in August 2017. Thus Public/Trade notices may be
issued emphasizing the need to fill Table 6A online by exporters to claim
refunds against exports made in August 2017. Exporters have already been
provided an option to view their Shipping Bill data online on ICEGATE website,
so that they can ensure filing of their Table 6A without any error. All
necessary steps may be taken to make exporters aware that the common errors that
hindered disbursal of IGST refunds in July are not repeated in subsequent
months.
2. The GST council in its 22nd meeting has also approved the GST
rate of 0.1% for supplies to merchant exporters and Notification No. 41/2017-
Integrated Tax (Rate), Notification No. 40/2017- CGST (Rate) and Notification
No. 40/2017- UTGST (Rate), all dated 23rd October, 2017 have been issued to that
effect. The said benefit is subject to the conditions mentioned in
aforementioned notifications. The merchant exporters are advised to take
following precautions to avail the benefit of the scheme:
i) The Name and
GSTIN of the Registered Supplier should be provided against each item in Third
Party details column of Shipping Bill. The GST Invoice details of the registered
supplier of each item should be declared in the ARE Certificate and Date columns
in the Shipping Bill format. Necessary changes have already been done in ICES
application. The third party details would be printed in the shipping bill
copies for fulfillment of the notification conditions.
ii) Further in
case of an export consignment containing multiple supplies by registered
suppliers, the registered recipient (merchant exporters) need to provide details
of all registered suppliers and corresponding invoices against each item in the
Shipping bills.
iii) For the purpose of above mentioned notifications
concerning supply to registered recipient at concessional GST, registered
principal place of business or registered additional place of business shall be
deemed to be a “registered warehouse”.
iv) Registered recipients
(Merchant exporters) may, if required, exclude commercially sensitive
information while providing copies of Shipping Bills to registered suppliers.
3. Difficulties if any should be brought to the notice of the Board.
4. Hindi version follows.
(Maninder Kumar) OSD (Cus-IV) [F. No: 450/119/2017-Cus.IV(Pt. I)]
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