NEW DELHI : In some relief to
exporters, tax officials have begun clearing pending refunds of Integrated
Goods and Services Tax (IGST), albeit at a slow pace.
According to official data, of the total IGST claim of Rs. 753
crore in July, only Rs. 132 crore were sanctioned for refund in the first 10
days.
The slow pace of IGST refunds is significant given that the GST
Council, in its last meeting, had announced that all pending refunds for July
and August would be cleared at the earliest — those for July would start by
October 10 and for August by October 18. The issue has now been raised by the
Finance Ministry as well as exporters, who have urged tax officials to expedite
refunds.
“The Board is according utmost priority to the early sanction of
the remaining export claims,” said Vanaja N Sarna, Chairperson, Central Board
of Excise and Customs, in a recent letter to field formations, stressing that
these must be cleared at the earliest. The matter is also understood to have
been taken up by Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia in a recent review meeting
with officials.
Adhia had earlier this month said that pending refunds to
exporters would be cleared by November-end. About Rs. 67,000 crore has been
collected as IGST from which refunds to exporters are estimated at about Rs.
2,000 crore for July and August.
According to Ajay Sahai, Director General and CEO of the
Federation of Indian Export Organisations: “The refunds are on the lower side
of our estimates. We hope that all refunds for July and August will be cleared
by the end of this month.” Though there is no GST on exports, exporters have to
pay IGST, which is refunded.
However, refunds were initially stalled due to procedural
confusion, and exporters complained they were facing cash-flow problems. After
a series of measures by the CBEC, a committee led by the Revenue Secretary also
recommended some measures to the GST Council. Accordingly, the Council, in its
meeting on October 6, relaxed norms for exporters.
Source: Dailyshippingtimes.com
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