What do GST rules say about refund for exporting goods and their payment

TNC Rajagopalan explains GST rules on exports and scrips.

We have exported goods on payment of IGST and got refund of the same also under Rule 96 of the CGST Rules, 2017. We also have some cases where we exported goods under LUT without IGST payment and claimed refund of unutilised input tax credit under Rule 89 of the CGST Rules, 2017. Now, in some cases, we agreed to short payment from buyer due to quality claims. We sought write-off from our bankers for the shortfall. They have asked us to surrender proportionate export incentives. We have surrendered the proportionate drawback and MEIS benefits. Are we required to surrender proportionate refunds obtained under GST laws also?

No. Under the GST laws, exports of goods are zero-rated and refunds under the said Rule 96 of 89 of the CGST Rules, 2017 for export of goods are not linked to realisation of payments.

We refer to DGFT Public Notice No. 84/2015-2020 dated April 3, 2019, and Trade Notice No. 03/2015-2020 dated April 3, 2019, phasing out physical copies of MEIS and SEIS Duty Credit Scrips issued with EDI port as port of registration from April 10, 2019 onwards. Does it mean we need not go through the process of registration of such scrips?

No. The CBIC has issued a circular no. 11/2009-Customs dated April 9, 2019, referring to the same matter. It says that MEIS/SEIS duty credit scrips shall continue to be transmitted electronically by DGFT to the Customs system and  for registration, assessment and debiting of scrips, the current procedure as per the extant Circular No. 12/2016-Customs dated March 28, 2016, shall continue to be followed, except that instead of presenting physical copies of the MEIS/SEIS scrips printed on security paper, the current owner or his authorised representative shall approach the proper officer of Customs with details of the MEIS/SEIS scrip such as IEC number, scrip number, etc. As regards verification of ownership of scrip, the same will be checked from the DGFT website. 

We refer to DGFT Public Notice No. 62/2015-20 dated February 16, 2018, regarding processing of MEIS applications on the basis of HS Code as mentioned in the shipping bill. Para 3 of the Public Notice says that “past cases which have been decided, will not be re-assessed based on the directives in this public notice”. We are not clear which past cases it refers to. Can you help us understand it? 

It refers to all cases or applications where the claims for duty credit scrips have already been granted or rejected before the date of the Public Notice by the Regional Authorities or by the DGFT Headquarters. 

We have fulfilled export obligation against advance authorisation but have not utilised the authorisation for imports even after getting revalidations due to some financial difficulties. Can we get further revalidation if we approach the Policy Relaxation Committee (PRC)?

Normally, the PRC considers such requests sympathetically, as the export obligation is fulfilled, provided it is convinced about the genuineness of the reasons for the request.