GST & IGST Refund for Exporters in India: Complete Process Guide

Two Ways to Export Under GST

1. Export with payment of IGST — Pay IGST on exports, claim refund later.
2. Export under LUT (Letter of Undertaking) — No IGST payment; claim refund of input tax credit (ITC) instead.

IGST Refund Process

1. File Shipping Bill with IGST payment details.
2. File GSTR-1 with export invoice details (Table 6A).
3. ICEGATE transmits Shipping Bill data to GST portal.
4. System auto-matches GSTR-1 with Shipping Bill.
5. Refund processed to bank account (typically 2-4 weeks).

LUT Bond Process

1. File LUT on GST portal (Form GST RFD-11) — valid for one financial year.
2. Export without charging IGST.
3. Claim refund of accumulated ITC via Form GST RFD-01.

Common IGST Refund Issues

• GSTR-1 and Shipping Bill mismatch (invoice number, taxable value, IGST amount).
• Late filing of GSTR-3B blocking refund.
• Shipping Bill not transmitted from ICEGATE to GST portal.

How Eximly Helps

Eximly auto-tracks your IGST payments per shipment, matches them with Shipping Bill data, and alerts you when there's a mismatch before you file GSTR-1. This prevents the #1 cause of refund delays.