GST LUT Filing (Letter of Undertaking)

A Letter of Undertaking (form RFD-11) that lets exporters supply zero-rated goods/services without paying IGST, instead of paying it and claiming a refund.

Any exporter of goods or services, or supplier to an SEZ developer or unit, who wants to bill without IGST — including freelancers with overseas clients. Notification 37/2017-Central Tax makes all registered persons intending to export without payment of integrated tax eligible to furnish an LUT in place of a bond, with one exception: a person who has been prosecuted for an offence under the CGST Act, the IGST Act or any existing law where the amount of tax evaded exceeds ₹250 lakh. If you are being told you need a bank guarantee, a bond, or a minimum export turnover, that is the superseded Notification 16/2017-Central Tax test, replaced on 4 October 2017.

Once per financial year, and that comes from clause (ii) of Notification 37/2017-Central Tax, which requires the LUT to be furnished on the registered person's letterhead, in duplicate, for a financial year, in the annexure to FORM GST RFD-11 — not from Rule 96A, which is silent on periodicity. It must be renewed at the start of each new financial year, and renewed before you export, because Rule 96A(1) requires the undertaking to be in place prior to export.

Those invoices are not covered. Rule 96A(1) requires the LUT or bond to be furnished prior to export, so for supplies already made you would pay IGST and claim a refund — the working-capital cycle the LUT exists to avoid. It is worth being precise about the boundary at the start of a financial year: exports on 1 April are not covered by last year's LUT. We file promptly, and we set the renewal reminder for March rather than April.

The undertaking is called in, and the two deadlines are different lengths. For goods, Rule 96A(1)(a) makes the tax payable with section 50(1) interest fifteen days after the expiry of three months from the date of the export invoice if the goods are not exported out of India. For services, Rule 96A(1)(b) makes it payable fifteen days after the expiry of one year, or the period allowed under FEMA including any extension permitted by the RBI, whichever is later, from the invoice date, if payment is not received in convertible foreign exchange or in Indian rupees where the RBI permits. The Commissioner may allow a further period in either case. Note that the FEMA limb was substituted by Notification 12/2024-Central Tax on 10 July 2024 — a services exporter with an RBI-permitted extension has longer than the flat one year that most guidance still quotes.

No. Rule 96A(3) provides that the export allowed under bond or LUT shall be withdrawn forthwith on failure to pay, and the amount is recovered under section 79. But Rule 96A(4) restores the facility immediately when the registered person pays the amount due, and clause (iii) of Notification 37/2017-Central Tax says the same. So it is a suspension pending payment rather than a permanent disqualification — you would, in the meantime, have to export on payment of IGST and claim refunds.

No portal fee. Only our professional fee applies.

Yes — export of services to overseas clients is zero-rated and can be billed without IGST under a valid LUT.

You can't bill exports without IGST until it's renewed. We remind you so it never lapses.

Yes, registered freelancers exporting services can and usually should, to avoid the IGST-refund cycle.

Typically within 1–2 working days once we have your details.