Step-by-Step Guide to

GST Refund Claims

Updated on :  NOV 09, 2022 - 08:08:54 PM

The GST refund process requires the taxpayer to follow elaborate

steps, submit documents and declaration if required, to the GST
authorities for claiming a GST refund. The refunds under GST can
be the cash balance in the electronic cash ledger deposited in
excess or tax paid by mistake or the accumulated Input Tax Credit
(ITC) unable to be utilised for tax payments due to zero-rated sales
or inverted tax structure. 

The forms in which a GST refund is claimed varies according to the

type of GST refund being claimed. For instance, the refund of IGST
in exports (with tax payment) can be claimed by only reporting
details in the GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B. Whereas the refund of cash
paid in excess of the electronic cash ledger can be claimed by
applying in form RFD-01. Therefore, the steps or the process differs
with the type of GST refund. 
Latest Updates on GST Refund

05th July 2022

Taxpayers can exclude the COVID pandemic period (1st March
2020 and 28th February 2022) while calculating the time limit for
filing GST refund applications under Sections 54 or 55 of the CGST
Act.

1st February 2022

Budget 2022 update-
1. Section 54 is amended to provide that refund claim of any
balance in the electronic cash ledger can be made in a particular
form and manner prescribed.
2. The time limit to claim refund by UN agencies is now two years
from last day of quarter when supply was received instead of six
months.
3. The restriction to refund taxpayers for tax defaults, that earlier
applied to unutilised ITC refund, is now extended to other types of
refunds.
4. The relevant date to file refund claim application for supplies to
SEZ is clarified in new sub-clause (ba) of clause (2) of the
explanation.
1st May 2021
Where the time limit to pass orders for rejecting any refund claim
fully or partly falls between 15th April 2021 and 30th May 2021, it is
extended. The extended time limit shall be later of two dates:
(1) 15 days after reply to notice OR
(2) 31st May 2021

Steps to submit a refund pre-

application form
Refund pre-application is a form that taxpayers must fill out to offer
information about their business, Aadhaar number, income tax
details, export data, expenditure and investment, and so on.
Taxpayers must file this pre-application form for all types of GST
refund. This form need not be signed and cannot be edited once
submitted. Hence, the user must be careful while entering the
details.

The two steps involved in filing the GST refund pre-application form
are as follows:
 Step 1: Log in to the GST portal, go to the ‘Services’ tab, click on
‘Refunds’ and select the ‘Refund pre-application form’ option.

Step 2: On the page displayed called ‘Refund pre-application form’,

fill in the details asked, and click on ‘Submit’. A confirmation of
submission will be displayed on the screen.

The following details must be reported:

 Nature of business – Manufacturer, merchant exporter, trader,

and service provider

 Date of issue of IEC (only for exporters) – Those applying for a

refund on account of exports (without payment of tax) must furnish
the date of issue of the Import Export Certificate.

 Aadhaar number of the primary authorised signatory is

mandatory.

 Value of exports made in the FY 2019-2020 (only for

exporters) – This must be computed at the GSTIN level and not
PAN level.
 Income tax paid in FY 2018-2019. 

 Advance tax paid in FY 2019-2020. 

 Capital expenditure and investment made in FY 2018-2019.

Refund process of IGST paid on

export of goods (with tax payment)
Exports are considered as ‘Zero-rated supplies’ under GST. Hence,
the tax paid (IGST and cess, if any) is eligible for a refund by the
exporter. Since the quantum of transactions can be huge in
exporters, the GST portal facilitates a simpler process of GST
refund. No separate application in form RFD-01 is required in this
case. Certain conditions must be satisfied by the exporter for a GST
refund.

Firstly, Table 6A in GSTR-1 must be filled up with Shipping bill

details related to export transactions (with payment of tax) and filed
by the due date. Secondly, the summary details must be reported in
item 3.1 (b) of Table 3.1 of GSTR-3B, the corresponding tax must
be paid, and the return should be filed by the due date prescribed
by GST law. 

In the export invoice data provided under Table 6A of Form GSTR-

1, the correct and complete shipping bill number, shipping bill date,
and port code details must be provided. It should be noted that
export transactions carried out in a tax period must be filed in the
GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B of the same relevant tax period. Care must
be taken to report the total of IGST and cess as a figure equal to or
higher in Table 3.1 of GSTR-3B than Table 6A and Table 6B of
GSTR-1.

The GST authority considers the shipping bill as a refund

application. The GST portal sends export details to the ICEGATE as
disclosed on GSTR-1. Also, a confirmation that GSTR-3B was filed
 for the relevant tax period is sent. The Customs system compares
the information on GSTR-1 to the information on their shipping bill
and Export General Manifest (EGM) and then processes the refund.

The ICEGATE system will share payment information with the GST
portal once the refund payment has been credited to the taxpayers’
accounts. The GST portal will share the information with the
taxpayers by SMS and e-mail.

Steps to apply in form RFD-01 for

most types of GST refund
RFD-01 must be filed for the following types of GST refund claims:

 Excess cash balance from the electronic cash ledger or excess tax
payment.

 IGST paid on export of services (with payment of tax).

 Accumulated ITC due to exports of goods and services without

payment of tax.

 Accumulated ITC due to supplies made to SEZ unit/SEZ developer

(without payment of tax).
 ITC accumulated due to inverted tax structure (tax on inputs higher
than a tax on outputs).

 If a recipient of deemed exports has paid the tax on inward

supplies that qualify as deemed exports and has claimed ITC for
the tax paid in their electronic credit ledger, the recipient of these
deemed exports is eligible for a refund of the tax amount paid (on
a condition that the supplier of such deemed exports does not
claim a refund).

 Tax paid on supplies made to SEZ units/SEZ developers (with

payment of tax).

 Tax paid on an intrastate supply later held as interstate supply and

vice versa.

 If a supplier of deemed exports paid tax on deemed supplies

without charging and collecting tax from the buyer of deemed
exports, then he would be eligible to claim it as a refund (on a
declaration that the recipient or buyer of such deemed exports
does not claim a refund).

 On account of Assessment or Provisional Assessment or Appeal

or any other order.

 There is also a provision for claiming a refund on ‘Any other

ground’ in RFD-01.
Care must be taken to declare consistent information of the invoices
in both GSTR-1, where it applies, and RFD-01. A certificate by a
chartered accountant/cost accountant needs to be submitted along
in certain cases.

Follow the below steps to file a refund application in RFD-01:

Step 1: Log in to the GST portal and go to the ‘Services’ tab, click
on ‘Refunds’ and select the ‘Application of refund’ option.

Step 2: In the page that appears, select the reason for refund or the
type of refund and click on ‘Create refund application’.

Step 3: Select the period for which a refund is to be applied and

select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ on the dialogue box- ‘If you want to file a nil
refund’. 
In case of nil refund application, the taxpayer can checkmark the
declaration and proceed to file using either DSC or EVC.

This step is not applicable in types of refunds such as excess cash

balance in the ledger, intrastate supply later held as interstate
supply and vice versa, assessment or provisional assessment or
appeal or any other order.

Step 4: Enter the details on the relevant page that gets displayed,
based on the type of refund selected in the previous step. 
Type 1: Excess cash balance in
electronic cash ledger

Enter the amount of cash to be claimed as a refund.

Type 2: Excess tax paid through
GSTR-3B

Enter details of the GSTR-3B in which such tax payment was done
in cash.

Type 3: Accumulated ITC due to

exports of goods and services without
payment of tax
Download Statement 3 and enter the details of export invoice
documents on which refund is claimed. 
Generate the JSON file and upload it on the GST portal. Validate
errors, if any.
In the column, ‘Computation of Refund to be claimed Statement-3A
[rule 89(4)]’, enter aggregate turnover, adjusted total turnover and
net input tax credit.

Validations take place to compute the maximum amount of refund

that the taxpayer is eligible for.
Type 4: Accumulated ITC due to
supplies made to SEZ unit/SEZ
developer (without payment of tax)

There is a prerequisite that GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B of the selected

period must be filed. The steps remain the same as the ones laid
down for the Type 3 refund given above. However, the statement
will be Statement 5. A CSV file can be uploaded instead of JSON.
Type 5: ITC accumulated due to
inverted tax structure 

Inverted tax structure means the tax rate and amount paid on inputs
are higher than the outputs. The steps remain the same as the ones
laid down for the Type 3 refund given above. However, the
statement will be Statement 1A. Thereafter, enter details such as
turnover of inverted rated supply, tax payable, adjusted total
turnover and net input tax credit.
Type 6: Refund by the recipient of
deemed exports

The steps remain the same as the ones laid down for the Type 3
refund given above. However, the statement will be Statement 5B.
Thereafter, enter details such as net input tax credit of deemed
exports and the refund to be claimed.
Type 7: Tax paid on supplies made to
SEZ unit/SEZ developer (with payment
of tax)

The steps remain the same as the ones laid down for the Type 3
refund given above. However, the statement will be Statement 4.
The refund amount will get auto-populated based on the statement
uploaded.

Type 8: Tax paid on an intrastate

supply later held as interstate supply
and vice versa

The steps remain the same as the ones laid down for the Type 3
refund given above. However, the statement will be Statement 6.
The refund amount will get auto-populated based on the statement
uploaded.

Type 9: Refund by the supplier of

deemed exports

The steps remain the same as the ones laid down for the Type 3
refund given above. However, the statement will be Statement 5B.
The refund amount will get auto-populated based on the statement
uploaded.

Type 10: Refund of IGST paid on

export of services (with tax payment)

The steps remain the same as the ones laid down for the Type 3
refund given above. However, the statement will be Statement 2.
The refund amount will get auto-populated based on the statement
uploaded.
Type 11: On account of assessment or
provisional assessment or appeal or any
other order

Make the selection of the type of order and enter details of the
same, as per the screenshot given below.
Type 12: Refund on ‘any other ground’
Reasons could be excess interest paid via GSTR-3B. Mention the
reason for refund specifically in 200 characters along with the
amount.

Step 5: Enter bank account details for the refund, upload the
supporting documents and declaration, in refund types that mandate
it. 

Up to 10 supporting documents can be uploaded, with file size

limited to 5 MB each.

Preview the application and click on ‘Save’. The saved application

remains for 15 days for the taxpayer’s action. Click on the ‘Proceed’
button after checking the boxes against undertaking and self-
declaration.
Step 6: File RFD-01 using EVC or DSC.

Application reference number or ARN gets generated and displayed

on the screen. Taxpayers can track using this number. The ARN is
also sent to the email address and mobile number.
The refund application is thereafter assigned to the refund
processing officer. It will be processed, and the refund status gets
updated.

GST refund process for embassies

and international organisations
 There are two ways in which refunds can be claimed:

 Use GSTR-11  to generate a refund application in form RFD-10.

 Obtain the RFD-10 form on the dashboard after logging into the
GST portal.

In the first case, go to GSTR-11 already filed by selecting the tax

period/quarter. Click on the ‘Generate RFD-10’ button.

Select the embassy or organisation radio button and click on the

‘Create’ button. Table ‘Details of the tax paid on purchases as
reported under GSTR-11’ will have amounts as auto-populated from
the return of the respective period, editable as well.
Preview and submit using DSC or EVC.

In the second case, on the dashboard after logging in to the GST

portal, go to the services tab and select refunds. Thereafter, choose
the ‘Application for refund’ option. 

On the page that gets displayed, choose ‘Embassy/International

Organisation’ as the option and click on ‘Create’.
The details of tax paid eligible for refund get auto-populated from
GSTR-11, already filed.

Verify and edit or enter the refund amount.

The rest of the steps remain the same as the first case.

What happens after the GST

refund is applied?
 The application filed by a refund applicant or taxpayer will appear on
the dashboard of the tax officer or refund processing officer as a
pending work item. He or she will verify and scrutinise the
application along with the documents.

Filed applications can be tracked using the “Track Application

Status” under Refunds. After inspection by a GST authorities refund
amount will be credited to the applicant bank account. 

Following will be the officer’s actions:

 Provisional refund can be granted in form RFD-04 for certain types

of refunds. It is to be issued within seven7 days from the
acknowledgement date with at least 90% of the amount of the
refund claimed granted.

 Acknowledgement in form RFD-02 is issued within 15 days from

filing the refund of the application if it is complete in all aspects.

 There is an option introduced to withdraw the application of refund

by the applicant in form RFD-01W. Once the withdrawal
application is submitted, the refund, which was debited to the
taxpayer’s electronic credit or cash ledger upon the filing of the
refund application, will be credited to the respective ledger.
 Otherwise, a deficiency memo in form RFD-03 can be issued by
the officer within the same time limit to rectify any deficiencies by
the applicant. At this point, an auto re-credit of the amount of
refund claimed in the electronic cash/ credit ledger will happen if
the ledger had been debited at the time of filing the refund. A fresh
application must be submitted in such cases.

 Notice to seek clarification in form RFD-08 can be issued by the

officer for rejecting the application or recovery of refund granted by
mistake. In such cases, the applicant must reply to it within 15
days in form RFD-09.

 A sanction or rejection order shall be passed by the officer in form

RFD-06. Following this, in cases of sanction, a payment order in
form RFD-05 is passed. Alternatively, RFD-05 is sometimes issued
after RFD-04.

 In certain cases, the officer may pass an order for withholding

refund sanctioned in form RFD-07 (part-B). Here, RFD-05 is never
issued.

 Order to re-credit the refund from the taxpayer’s electronic cash or

credit ledger in cases of rejection or when the provisional refund
was granted in form PMT-03.