Exporters can now file GST refund claim manually: CBEC

New Delhi: Exporters can now manually file claims for GST refunds before tax officers owing to the specific modules not being available online, as per latest orders of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC).

Services exporters who have paid Integrated GST (IGST) and those making zero rated supplies to Special Economic Zone (SEZ) units, as well as merchant exporters seeking claim refunds for input credit, can now approach their jurisdictional commissioner with their refund form, the CBEC said in a circular.

"Due to the non-availability of the refund module on the common portal, it has been decided by the competent authority ... that the applications/documents/forms pertaining to refund claims on account of zero-rated supplies shall be filed and processed manually till further orders," it said. 

Businesses making zero-rated supplies or those who have paid IGST on exports, or want to claim input credit, would need to print out Form RFD-01A and approach the Chief Commissioner of Central Tax and the Commissioner of State Tax for refund claim, it added. 

The provisional refund would be sanctioned by the concerned tax officer within 7 days.

In October, the CBEC had started refunds for merchandise exporters who had paid IGST and claimed refund based on shipping bill by submitting Table 6A.