Business entities who are registered under GST and are involved in export of goods or services are allowed to export goods without payment of IGST by filing a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) in Form GST RFD-11.
A Letter of Undertaking is a declaration by the applicant to export the goods/services without the payment of IGST and in an event of failure to export the goods or services then the entire amount of IGST shall be paid alongwith interest payable @18% p.a. from the date of invoice till the date of payment.
Filing of Letter of Undertaking and exporting goods or services without payment of IGST was a welcome step and came as a big relief to entities (big or small) since the refund of IGST, paid at the time of export, used to take some time to be credited back thus withholding a working capital and hampering business operations.
FORMAT OF LUT (GST RFD-11)
Form GST RFD-11
ELIGIBILITY TO EXPORT UNDER LUT
All registered persons who intend to supply goods or services for export without payment of integrated tax except those who have been prosecuted for any offence under the CGST Act or the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 or any of the existing laws and the amount of tax evaded in such cases exceeds two hundred and fifty lakh rupees.
FILING LUT ONLINE
Letter of Undertaking is to be filed before the beginning of a Financial Year. An LUT can be easily filed by accessing your account on GST portal following the steps as under:
• Go to User Services and Select the Tab “Furnishing Letter of Undertaking
• Select the financial year for which LUT is to be applied and upload previous LUT, if any
• Select the declaration checkboxes and provide details of two witnesses
• Sign and File the LUT with DSC or EVC. An ARN will be generated
• No document needs to be physically submitted to the jurisdictional office
VALIDITY OF LUT
The LUT shall be valid for the whole financial year for which it is tendered.
Where invoice is generated but the goods are not exported within 3 months time or in case of services the payment is not received within one year from date of invoice, then the entire amount of IGST shall stand payable alongwith interest @18% p.a.. Failure in paying the amount will result in wihdrawl of facility of export under LUT and will only be restored when the amount is paid.
As a result, exports, during the period from when the facility to export under LUT is withdrawn till the time the same is restored, shall be either on payment of the applicable IGST or under bond with bank guarantee.
TIME FOR ACCEPTANCE OF LUT
An LUT shall be deemed to have been accepted as soon as an acknowledgement for the same, bearing the Application Reference Number (ARN), is generated online.
In case you need any help getting a better understanding of GST and its compliances, as a business owner or as someone who is planning to start a business, feel free to consult the GST experts at Tax Aid. You can get all sorts of assistance on GST Registration, return filing and consultations through experts.