Special drive launched to process pending GST refunds

The government on Monday kicked off a special fortnight-long drive to facilitate pending GST refunds which will last till July 30.

During this period, dedicated refund cells and help desks would be provided for exporters to get their refund claims processed in each commissionerate, an official statement said.

This is the third such refund fortnight to clear Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds after similar drives earlier held in March and June.

"However, in order to liquidate pendency further, and to handhold and guide the trade for applying for the refund claims in a proper manner, it has been decided to observe another refund fortnight from July 16 to July 30," the statement said, acknowledging that refunds of GST have been a concern for the government and trade for the past several months.

In the first refund fortnight, Rs 4,265 crore of integrated-GST (IGST) refunds and Rs 1,136 crore of input tax credit refunds were sanctioned by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) while in the second drive, it was Rs 6,087 crore and Rs 1,548 crore respectively.

"In case of IGST refunds for goods exported out of India, the percentage of amount of refund claims disposed by CBIC is already more than 90 per cent," the statement said.

--IANS

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