Archive · 4 Oct 2026
GST Council Weighs Faster Refunds and Fuller Exporter Credits
The GST Council is expected to discuss new rules to help exporters get tax refunds more easily.
The meeting is planned for October 7.
Some proposals would make it easier for companies to count certain overseas sales and services as exports.
The Council may also let exporters recover more kinds of taxes, including some taxes paid on machinery.
Those machinery-related refunds could be paid over five years.
A new process could acknowledge refund claims within 10 days and release most of the money before a full check is finished.
Officials may also change how export payments and refund amounts are treated.
These are proposals for the Council to consider, not confirmed changes.
The GST Council is expected to consider an exporter relief package at its October 7 meeting.
Proposals could ease export treatment for supplies through foreign branches and work done in India on foreign-owned goods.
The package may expand recoverable taxes, including plant and machinery taxes, with those refunds spread over five years.
A proposed automated process would acknowledge claims within 10 days and could release up to 90% after a risk check.
Other possible changes include removing the domestic-price-linked refund cap and aligning export-payment rules with RBI requirements.
- Who
- The GST Council and Indian exporters.
- What
- The Council may consider changes to export-related GST rules, refunds and credits.
- When
- The Council is due to meet on October 7; the year is not specified.
- Where
- India.
- Why
- To ease refund claims, unlock working capital and align indirect tax rules with exporters’ operating practices and applicable RBI rules.
- Meeting
- The GST Council is expected to consider the package on October 7.
- Refund acknowledgment
- Claims would have to be acknowledged within 10 days; they would be deemed acknowledged if an officer did not act within the prescribed period.
- Possible advance refund
- Up to 90% of an eligible refund could be released after a risk check, with the balance paid after verification.
- Plant and machinery
- Proposed refunds for taxes paid on plant and machinery would be spread over five years.
- Existing export-value cap
- Refund turnover is currently capped at the lower of actual export value and 1.5 times the value of similar domestic goods.
- Proposed cap change
- The Council may consider removing the domestic-price-linked cap.
- Invoice matching
- Export invoices would be matched electronically with bank realisations under the proposal.