LUT for export of services: filing Form GST RFD-11

An export of services is a zero-rated supply under GST. You can zero-rate it in two ways: pay IGST on the invoice and claim it back as a refund, or file an LUT and charge no IGST at all. The LUT keeps your money out of the refund queue, which is why most service exporters use it.

Only a GST-registered business can file an LUT. If your aggregate turnover is under ₹20 lakh (₹10 lakh in some special category states), you are generally not required to register for exports of services. See when a service is an export.

Any registered person who exports goods or services can furnish an LUT, unless they have been prosecuted for an offence under GST law where the tax evaded is more than ₹2.5 crore. Those exporters furnish a bond instead.

1. 1Sign in to the GST portal.
2. 2Go to Services → User Services → Furnish Letter of Undertaking (LUT).
3. 3Choose the financial year the LUT is for.
4. 4Tick the declarations and enter two independent witnesses: name, address and occupation.
5. 5Sign with your DSC, or with an EVC (a code sent to your registered mobile and email).
6. 6Download the acknowledgement. Its ARN is your LUT reference.

The portal's own walkthrough is in its user guide.

Under an LUT the invoice charges no IGST, and rule 46 of the CGST Rules asks it to say so. The usual wording, from rule 46, is:

“SUPPLY MEANT FOR EXPORT UNDER LETTER OF UNDERTAKING WITHOUT PAYMENT OF INTEGRATED TAX”

Many exporters add the LUT's ARN under it. In GSTR-1, each of these invoices goes in table 6A as WOPAY, without payment of tax. See exports in GSTR-1.

Under rule 96A, an export made under an LUT has to be paid in convertible foreign exchange, or in rupees where RBI allows, within one year of the invoice or a longer period the Commissioner allows. If it is not, the IGST you did not charge becomes payable, with interest.

This is a separate clock from RBI's, which expects the payment within 9 months of the invoice. See the export payment deadline.

Do I need a new LUT every year?

Yes. An LUT covers one financial year. File the next one before your first export invoice of the new year; most exporters do it in March.

Is there a fee for filing an LUT?

No. It is filed free on the GST portal.

Can a freelancer file an LUT?

Yes, if registered for GST. An individual exporter files it the same way a company does.

What if I invoiced an export without an LUT?

Then the export should have carried IGST, which can be claimed back as a refund of tax paid on a zero-rated supply. Talk to your CA about invoices already issued.

• CGST Rules, 2017: rules 46 and 96A
• GST portal user guide: furnishing a Letter of Undertaking

• When is a service an export under GST? The five conditionsA service counts as an export, and is zero-rated, only if all five conditions in section 2(6) of the IGST Act are met.
• Export invoices in GSTR-1Where export invoices go in GSTR-1, what WOPAY and WPAY mean, which fields services leave blank, how amendments work, and where exports show in GSTR-3B.
• Export payment deadlineUnder FEMA, payment for an export of services has to reach India within 9 months of the invoice, or 12 months if invoiced in rupees.
• Due dates: March 20277 deadlines for exporters of services