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karterk | 3 years ago

Back when GST was introduced, they asked all exporters of software services to pay the 18% GST and then claim a refund because exports are exempted. This was before they introduced a process to apply for a "NOC" (which must be renewed periodically I think). So, I duly paid GST for the first couple of months.

5 years later, I'm yet to receive the refunds. First, they said that they were authorized to only sanction refunds for exporters of physical goods and then they said that this is handled by the State government, who said that it was handled by the Central. Finally Central accepted that they are in-charge of the refund, but by then COVID happened and I could not follow up for 2 years. In May, when I tried to claim the refund again, they said that this refund pertains to 2016 and it's difficult to "reopen" the accounts for that year and that's handled by yet another department. So, they have written to them to ask for the process. No replies after two emails. Story continues...

discuss

eldaisfish|3 years ago

My family’s liquor shop was forced to close because our accountants could not keep up with the constant GST changes. They quit and we could not find another on short notice. The worst part was that the shop was on the hook for the unpaid taxes of upstream suppliers - money that is yet to be fully refunded after years.

India’s legal systems and the enforcement of laws are one of the biggest drags on a country with immense potential.

hawk_|3 years ago

That sounds awful. Curious to hear if you were able to avoid GST payments in later years as should be the case for exports.

karterk|3 years ago

Yes, you can get a waiver if you apply for something called the "Letter of Undertaking" which allows you to not pay anything for exports. This was not available at the start.

klausjensen|3 years ago

This is exactly what happened to me.

BilalBudhani|3 years ago

This is awful.

I had to apply for Foreign Export of Services Certificate as well which turned out to be the PAN number.

They also made it impossible for services exporters to claim GST back on business expenses.

solardev|3 years ago

Are you sure these aren't just thinly-veiled requests for a bribe?

karterk|3 years ago

No, they usually are very brazen about that, but this time they are generally clueless.