I export services or goods — can I avoid charging GST and still claim my input credits?

Exports are treated as “zero-rated” supplies under GST, which means the intention is that no tax should finally rest on what you send abroad. That gives most exporters two routes — pay IGST on the export and claim it back as a refund, or furnish a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) and export without paying tax in the first place, claiming a refund of the unused input credit instead. A small set of notified goods and persons are restricted in the route they may use, so it is worth confirming where you stand.

For many exporters — software and IT-enabled services, consultants billing overseas clients, and goods exporters alike — the LUT route is easier on cash flow. You raise your invoice without adding tax, so no money leaves your hands only to be reclaimed later, and you recover the GST paid on your own inputs through a refund claim. The LUT is furnished online once for each financial year, ideally before the year's first export. For services, the supply also needs to meet the conditions for an export — broadly, a recipient and place of supply outside India, and payment received in convertible foreign exchange or in rupees where the RBI permits.

Refunds of input credit on zero-rated supplies have also become quicker to process: since late 2025, claims the system classifies as low-risk can be sanctioned 90% provisionally, with the balance after scrutiny. We can help set up the undertaking, review your export invoicing, and prepare and file the input-credit refund claims.