Govt extends benefits of tax refund scheme to all export goods

Giving relief to exporters, the government on Thursday said it has decided to extend the benefit of tax refund scheme RoDTEP to all goods, with effect from Friday.

In March, the government approved the scheme for Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) for reimbursement of taxes and duties to exporters, with a view to give a boost to the country’s dwindling outbound shipments.

“Taking a major step to boost exports, the government has decided to extend the benefit of the scheme for RoDTEP to all export goods with effect from January 1, 2021,” the finance ministry said in a statement.

The scheme, it said, would refund to exporters the embedded Central, State and local duties and taxes that were so far not being rebated or refunded and were, therefore, placing India’s exports at a disadvantage.

“The refund would be credited in an exporter’s ledger account with customs and used to pay basic customs duty on imported goods. The credits can also be transferred to other importers,” it added.

It added that the RoDTEP rates would be notified shortly by the Department of Commerce, based on the recommendation of a committee chaired by GK Pillai, former commerce and home secretary.

The final report of the committee is expected shortly, it said. “An exporter desirous of availing the benefit of the RoDTEP scheme shall be required to declare his intention for each export item in the shipping bill or bill of export,” the statement said.

The RoDTEP would be allowed, subject to specified conditions and exclusions, it said.

The notified rates, irrespective of the date of notification, shall apply with effect from January 1, 2021, to all eligible exports of goods, the statement added.

Commenting on the development, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Sharad Kumar Saraf said notification of RoDTEP rates is crucial as it would help an exporter to decide prices of their products.

He said incentives under the MEIS (Merchandise Export from India Scheme) should be extended to those goods for which the rates have to be notified from time to time.

The country’s exports declined 17.76 per cent to $173.66 billion during April-November this fiscal.