Noida is home to a significant concentration of IT and ITES exporters, particularly along the Sector 62 and Sector 132 corridors, and for these businesses the GST refund process is where a meaningful share of their working capital either gets released efficiently or sits locked up for months due to a poorly-filed claim. Understanding exactly how the export refund process works – and where claims typically get delayed – is worth more to an exporter’s cash flow than almost any other piece of GST compliance.

KYRA GST is a GST-only practice, and export refund claims are part of our core GST return filing and consulting work across Noida. We handle LUT filing, refund computation and RFD-01 submission for IT and services exporters, with the same reconciliation discipline we apply to routine monthly filing.

Two Refund Routes for Exporters

  • Export without payment of IGST (under LUT): The exporter files a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) and supplies without charging IGST, then claims a refund of accumulated, unutilised input tax credit through Form RFD-01.
  • Export with payment of IGST: The exporter pays IGST on the export supply and claims a refund of that IGST paid, which is often processed faster since much of it can be auto-refunded based on shipping bill data matched with GST returns.

Most established exporters use the LUT route since it avoids blocking working capital in IGST payments upfront, but the refund itself takes longer to process and requires a more detailed RFD-01 application with supporting reconciliation.

Step-by-Step: Filing an Export Refund Claim

  1. Confirm your LUT is active for the relevant financial year – a lapsed LUT before shipment can complicate the refund claim significantly.
  2. Reconcile GSTR-1 exports against shipping bills and GSTR-3B for the period, ensuring the export invoice details match what’s declared in returns.
  3. Compute the eligible refund amount using the prescribed formula, which factors in net ITC, turnover of zero-rated supply, and adjusted total turnover for the period.
  4. File Form RFD-01 on the GST portal with the computation, along with a statement of invoices and supporting reconciliation.
  5. Respond to any RFD-08 deficiency memo promptly – a common cause of refund delay is a slow or incomplete response to the department’s queries.
  6. Track the refund order (RFD-06) and follow up if the statutory processing timeline of 60 days is exceeded, since delayed refunds also carry statutory interest in the exporter’s favour.

Export Refunds for Noida’s IT and Services Sector

Most IT and ITES exporters in Sector 62 and Sector 132 operate under the LUT route, supplying services to overseas clients without charging IGST and then claiming a refund of accumulated ITC on domestic expenses – office rent, software subscriptions, equipment, and other input services consumed in providing the exported service. Getting this refund right depends heavily on correctly classifying the underlying service as a genuine export in the first place, since a service that doesn’t meet all the conditions under Section 2(6) of the IGST Act – particularly around the location of the recipient and the place of supply – can have its refund claim rejected even if IGST was never charged.

Documents Needed for an Export Refund Claim

For a services export refund under LUT, you’ll typically need the LUT acknowledgement for the relevant financial year, export invoices, the Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) or Bank Realisation Certificate confirming payment receipt, and a statement reconciling GSTR-1 export declarations against GSTR-3B for the claim period. For refunds under the IGST-payment route, shipping bill details and the corresponding tax invoice matter most, since these are what the system uses to auto-validate the claim. Missing or mismatched FIRC details are one of the more common reasons a services export refund claim gets held up at the deficiency-memo stage.

Also Relevant Across Delhi NCR

The refund process and formulas described here apply identically to exporters in Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Delhi and Gurugram, since export refund rules are set at the central GST law level rather than varying by state. If your business also operates from another NCR location, a single GST consulting partner can manage refund claims consistently across every GSTIN. For manufacturing exporters, see our GST refund process for exporters in Greater Noida page, which also covers the inverted duty structure refund route relevant to many manufacturers.

How We Work

  1. Free consultation: We assess your GST position at no cost and no commitment.
  2. Document collection: Share details securely – we handle the paperwork end to end.
  3. Expert review: We identify risk areas and build a filing, audit or response strategy.
  4. Execution: We file, review, reply or represent – and keep you updated at every step.
  5. Ongoing support: Continuous monitoring as GST law and your business evolve.

Common Reasons Refund Claims Get Delayed or Rejected

  • Lapsed LUT: Supplying without payment of IGST after the LUT for the financial year has expired, which can disqualify the underlying export treatment.
  • Mismatch between invoice value and bank realisation: A common issue for export-of-services claims, where the foreign inward remittance certificate doesn’t align cleanly with the invoiced amount.
  • Incomplete deficiency memo response: Failing to respond fully and promptly to an RFD-08 query, which restarts significant portions of the processing timeline.
  • Classification disputes: The department questioning whether a specific service genuinely qualifies as an export under the place-of-supply rules, particularly for services with any domestic component.

What to Do If Your Refund Is Delayed Beyond 60 Days

The GST law provides for interest at 6% per annum if a refund isn’t processed within 60 days of a complete application, so a delayed refund isn’t simply lost time – it carries a statutory cost to the department that can be claimed alongside the principal amount. If a Noida exporter’s refund has crossed this window, the first step is confirming the application was actually complete (no pending deficiency memo response), and then formally following up with the jurisdictional officer while documenting the delay for the eventual interest claim.

Why Refund Claims Need the Same Discipline as Routine Filing

Exporters sometimes treat refund claims as a separate, occasional task rather than an extension of routine monthly compliance, which is exactly why so many claims arrive at the department incomplete or poorly reconciled. Building export documentation checks into the same monthly cycle as regular GSTR-1 and 3B filing means the data behind an eventual RFD-01 application has already been verified months in advance, rather than assembled under time pressure once cash flow makes the refund urgent.

Indicative Pricing

GST Return Filing starts from ₹999/month (+GST) per GSTIN, Annual Return (GSTR-9 & 9C) starts from ₹4,999/year, and Show Cause Notice replies start from ₹25,000/case depending on the demand amount and hearings involved. Final fees are always agreed in writing after a free case review – see the full pricing details for every service.

Setting Up for Smoother Future Refund Claims

Exporters who file refund claims as a one-off exercise each quarter, rather than reconciling export invoices against returns monthly, tend to spend far more time preparing each RFD-01 application than those who build the reconciliation into their regular filing cycle. We set up export reconciliation as part of standard monthly filing for our exporter clients specifically so that when a refund claim is due, the underlying data is already checked and ready rather than needing to be reconstructed from scratch.

Related Reading

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How long does the GST refund process take for a Noida exporter?
The statutory processing timeline is 60 days from a complete application, though the actual time can vary depending on scrutiny and any deficiency memo raised.

Q2. What happens if our LUT has lapsed but we’ve already invoiced without charging IGST?
This needs prompt review – we assess the exposure and help determine the best corrective path, which may include a fresh LUT filing and reviewing the affected invoices.

Q3. Do we get interest if our refund is delayed beyond 60 days?
Yes – the law provides for 6% annual interest on delayed refunds beyond the statutory timeline, which we help document and claim alongside the principal.

Q4. Can you help us set up monthly export reconciliation so refund claims are easier to file?
Yes – we build export invoice reconciliation into standard monthly filing for exporter clients, so refund claims are prepared from data that’s already checked.

Book a Free Consultation

If you need a GST partner in Noida who actually understands your sector and your office or industrial location, book a free, no-obligation consultation – first response within 24 hours. You can also call +91 72500 69777 or message us on WhatsApp directly.