 "Illustration: Ajay Mohanty")
Exporters have claimed refunds of Rs 6,500 crore in the first four months of GST rollout, the government said on Wednesday, while asking them to file claims in proper form with matching shipping bills to facilitate early settlements.
It also said that businesses can upload the final sales return for August in GSTR-1 on GST Network (GSTN) portal from December 4.
In a statement, the finance ministry said: "It is clarified that the quantum of IGST refund claims as filed through Shipping Bills during the period July to October, is approximately Rs 6,500 crore and the quantum of refund of unutilised credit on inputs or input services, as per the RFD-01A applications filed on GSTN portal, is to the tune of Rs 30 crore."
The CBEC had last month started refunds for exporters of goods who have paid Integrated GST (IGST) and have claimed the refund based on shipping bill by filling up Table 6A.
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Earlier this month, it allowed businesses making zero-rated supplies or those who have paid IGST on exports or those want to claim input credit to fill Form RFD-01A.
It asked them to approach Chief Commissioner of Central Tax and the Commissioner of State Tax for the refund claim.
The ministry said that of the IGST paid on goods exported, a majority of refund claims for exports made in July have been sanctioned.
"Refund claims of IGST paid for exports made in August, September and October 2017 are being sanctioned seamlessly wherever returns have been accurately filed," it said.
Exporters should file GSTR-3B, Table 6A of GSTR-1 on the GSTN portal and Shipping Bills on Customs EDI System, it said.
However, the statement said, the instance of errors are noticed in Shipping Bill number in GSTR-1, mismatch of invoice number and IGST amount paid and wrong bank account, which is delaying the refund process.
"These errors are the sole reason for the delay in grant of refunds, or rejection thereof. While information has been made available to Exporters on the ICEGATE portal if they are registered, they may also contact jurisdictional Customs authorities to check the errors they have committed to furnishing information in GST returns and Shipping Bill, and rectify them at the earliest," the ministry said.
It asked exporters to ensure that there is no discrepancy in the information furnished in Table 6A of GSTR-1 and the Shipping Bill.
It said that since Customs system automatically grants refunds without the involvement of any officer by matching information that is furnished on GSTN portal and Customs system, the onus is on the exporters to fill in all the details accurately.
"Exporters may, therefore, take due precaution to ensure that no errors creep in while filing Table 6A of GSTR 1 of August 2017 and onwards," the ministry added.
In case exporters have committed errors in filling up July claim forms, they can make changes by filling up Table-9 of GSTR-1 of August returns, it said.
For claiming Input Tax Credit (ITC), the ministry said exporters will have to ensure that all the necessary documents are submitted along with the Form RFD-01A for timely sanction of refund.
"Exporters are advised to immediately file Table 6A and GSTR-3B, for processing of IGST refund; RFD-01A on GSTN portal for the refund of the unutilised ITC on inputs or input services used in making exports; and GSTR-1 for August 2017 for amending details provided in July GSTR-1," the ministry said.
The government has taken various measures to alleviate the difficulty of exporters and is fully committed to provide speedy disbursal of refunds due to them, it added.
