How does IGST Refund get processed between ICEGATE and GST portal ?

The refund process for IGST paid on export of goods has been fully automated and facility has been made available on the dashboard of taxpayer to track status of transmission of Invoice data to ICEGATE system of Customs. This gives you an overview of how the automated system works and how you can track status of transmission of export invoices on the Portal.

Process: Under Rule 96 of the CGST Rules, 2017, the refund of IGST paid on exports of goods is to be disbursed by Customs. For this GST System transmits invoice level data, after validations, to the ICEGATE system, which would further validate with Shipping Bill and process the refund.

The GSTR-1, filed with export invoices under Table 6A, is automatically transmitted by the GST System for refund of IGST paid on export of goods to the ICEGATE. The shipping bill filed by an exporter is deemed to be an application for refund. 

The GST System does following validations before the invoices are transmitted to ICEGATE:

Invoices, pertaining to export of goods with payment of IGST, should be declared under Table 6A of GSTR-1. Each invoice, being declared under Table 6A, should correctly mention

                     i.             Invoice number: as is mentioned in Shipping Bill which is filed with Customs system

                   ii.             Shipping bill number: Shipping Bill number that includes this invoice

                  iii.             Shipping bill date: date as given on Shipping Bill

                 iv.             Port code: port code as given on Shipping Bill

GST System considers an invoice as ineligible for transmission if the above details are not provided.

The GST System further validates whether correct amount of IGST/CESS has been paid under Table 3.1(b) of GSTR-3B, when compared with IGST/CESS from invoices declared under Table 6A/9A/6B of GSTR-1

There are cases where purchase of goods is done in one month and export takes place in another. To take care of such cases, GST System uses ledger based approach to validate if sum total of IGST/CESS paid under Table 3.1(b) of GSTR 3B across all periods is equal to, or greater than, the sum total of IGST/CESS from invoices under Tables 6A/9A/6B of GSTR 1 across all periods. The eligible invoices are transmitted by the GST System only if such cumulative validation of IGST/CESS is successful.

The GST System does not transmit an eligible invoice to ICEGATE until the aforesaid validation is successful, i.e. the sum paid as IGST/CESS paid under Table 3.1(b) is greater than or equal to IGST/CESS from invoices under Tables 6A/9A/6B. The ledger shows the difference between these two which should be ZERO or positive) for invoices to be transmitted to ICEGATE.

Tracking Mechanism

The GST System provides a facility to check return period wise status of transmission of invoice data, and view transactional level details used to maintain export ledger. The same can be accessed by taxpayer by navigating to Services Refund Track status of invoice data to be shared with ICEGATE, after logging into the GST Common Portal.

The facility prompts for selection of return period when GSTR-1 was filed, and displays one of the following statuses:

Details transmitted to ICEGATE

·         The invoice details for the selected return period are transmitted to ICEGATE. A table with details of invoice count is displayed as explained below:

·         Total Invoice Count: Total number invoices filed under Table 6A of GSTR-1

·         Invoices Transmitted to ICEGATE: Count of invoices transmitted to ICEGATE

·         Invoices not Transmitted to ICEGATE: count of invoices that did not have shipping bill/port details, and hence were not eligible to be transmitted to ICEGATE.

·         Taxpayer may click on the invoice count to get the invoice level details. Such invoices can be corrected using Table 9A of  GSTR-1  filed in subsequent period.

Details not transmitted to ICEGATE because IGST paid under Table 3.1(b) of GSTR 3B is less than refund claimed

·         The sum total of the sum total of IGST/CESS paid under Table 3.1(b) of GSTR 3B across all periods is less than the sum total of IGST/CESS from invoices  under Tables 6A/9A/6B of GSTR 1 across all periods. Taxpayer may fulfil the short fall in IGST/CESS under Table 3.1(b) of subsequent GSTR-3B.

Details not transmitted to ICEGATE because GSTR-1 is not filed

·         Either GSTR-1 has not been filed for the selected return period, or it doesnt have any invoice under Table 6A.

Taxpayer has option to view, and download, the complete export ledger by clicking on View Export Ledger hyperlink available on top-right corner of this Track Status page. The following information is available under export ledger:

Net IGST Balance: difference between cumulative IGST from Table 3.1(b) and Tables 6A/6B/9A

Net CESS Balance: difference between cumulative CESS from Table 3.1(b) and Tables 6A/6B/9A

Data Displayed as on: Date when the view was generated

Return Period: period of filing the return shown in Return Type column

Return Type: GST Return (R1 = GSTR-1, R3B = GSTR-3B)

Credit/Debit: IGST/CESS from Table 3.1(b) is posted as Credit in ledger, and that from Tables 6A/6B/9A is posted as Debit in ledger.

IGST Amount/CESS Amount: The IGST/CESS amount from respective GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B

 A detailed user manual with screenshots is available under FAQ section of the GST Common Portal.

GO TO HOME PAGE