Gujarat High Court Reprieve For Exporters On GST Exemptions

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Gujarat High Court Reprieve For Exporters On GST Exemptions

Many exporters, who had been issued notices by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) for availing GST exemptions where exports preceded imports, have managed to get a temporary relief from the Gujarat High Court. The high court said that it would be hearing the complaints by the exporters. DRI had begun issuing notices to exporters in the last few months, raising questions around benefits claimed under the GST framework for advance authorisation scheme. The scheme essentially allows exporters to claim credit of raw materials bought before actually exporting the product. “The restriction to claim benefit of IGST (integrated GST) exemption to advance authorisation licence holders has been imposed by way of rules and creates a distinction between two classes of Indian exporters. Accordingly, judicial review of such a restriction will have to be decided by the courts,” said Abhishek A Rastogi, partner at Khaitan & Co, who is representing some exporters in the Gujarat High Court. The exporters were asked to pay IGST first as the foreign trade policy has been amended and several notifications were issued in the last few months.