Faster GST Refunds For Exporters From Next Month As Revenue Department Plans To Make The Process Automated

Exporters of goods and services as well as suppliers to the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) units are likely to get Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds automatically from June 2019 as the revenue department prepares to introduce faceless scrutiny of refunds and faster claim settlement, reports Economic Times.

Presently automatic refund is available only to the exporters who have paid Integrated GST (IGST) while exporting goods. Given the systems of GST Network (GSTN) and Customs are integrated, refunds are transferred to the bank accounts of such exporters within a fortnight.

However, the same is not true for manufacturing exporters and suppliers to the SEZs who want to claim a refund of Input Tax Credit (ITC) as they have to file an application Form GST RFD-01A on the common portal and thereafter manually submit a print out of the form along with other documents to the jurisdictional officer, post which it could take months for the refunds to be directed to their bank accounts.

Thus, the implementation of new automated refunds mechanism is a matter of significance given the time period for such refunds will come down to about a fortnight from months at present.

Not only will this automated mechanism make the process faster, but also help in eliminating fake refunds.