GST LUT Filing

Exports under GST are zero-rated. You can achieve that in one of two ways: pay IGST on the export invoice and claim a refund afterwards, or furnish a Letter of Undertaking in Form RFD-11 and export without paying IGST at all.

For almost every exporter the LUT is the right choice. The refund route means funding the tax out of working capital and waiting for the department to return it. On a business exporting ₹50 lakh a quarter, that is a substantial sum permanently in transit.

The LUT covers goods, services and supplies to SEZ units and developers. It is valid for one financial year and must be filed afresh each April — which is where most exporters slip.

The LUT expires on 31 March

It is valid for the financial year in which it is filed, and nothing carries forward. An exporter who files in April 2026 has no valid LUT on 1 April 2027. Invoices raised without a valid LUT should have carried IGST, and correcting that afterwards is messy. File in the first week of April, every April.

Export of services has conditions

A supply of services qualifies as an export only if the supplier is in India, the recipient is outside India, the place of supply is outside India, payment is received in convertible foreign exchange, and the two parties are not merely establishments of the same person. Freelancers billing an overseas parent company frequently fail the last condition without realising.

You still have to report the exports

Zero-rated does not mean unreported. Exports go into Table 6A of GSTR-1 with the shipping bill details, and these are matched against customs data to enable refunds and validate the zero rating. Mismatches between the shipping bill and the GSTR-1 entry are the most common reason export refunds stall.

Payment has to actually arrive

The undertaking includes a commitment to realise export proceeds within the period allowed under FEMA. Where payment is not received, the exemption can be withdrawn and IGST becomes payable with interest. This is worth watching for exporters with slow-paying overseas customers.

The LUT does not replace the IEC

They do different jobs. The IEC lets you export at all; the LUT lets you do it without paying IGST first. Goods exporters need both, and the IEC has its own annual confirmation requirement between April and June.

The LUT is filed on the GST portal under Rule 96A of the CGST Rules, 2017.

Your export invoices should state that the supply is made under a Letter of Undertaking without payment of integrated tax, and carry the LUT reference. Buyers and banks both look for this.

Continue claiming input tax credit on your purchases. Because your outward supplies carry no tax, credit accumulates — and unutilised credit attributable to zero-rated supplies can be refunded. Many exporters on an LUT never claim this, which quietly leaves real money with the department.

Keep shipping bills, bank realisation certificates and GSTR-1 entries aligned. Consistency across the three is what makes any subsequent refund or departmental query straightforward.