Government of India has already notified refund of service tax paid on sixteen taxable services, whether or not input services, use of which could be attributable to export goods, based on verifiable methods.

Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has issued instructions vide F.No.341/15/2007-TRU dated 17th April, 2008 to all field formations of CBEC to ensure timely and expeditious payment of refund claims to exporters. A monitoring system to ensure timely payment of refund claim has also been put in place.

Any refund claim which is not finalized within a period of 30 days from the date of filing is required to be reported by the Commissioner to the concerned Chief Commissioner and any refund claim which is not finalised within a period of 45 days, for whatsoever reasons, is required to be reported to the CBEC. Field officers have also been instructed to take special efforts to dispose of refund claims of small and medium exporters on priority basis.

Refund claim timelines: reporting and escalation required when not finalised within short prescribed periods, with priority for small and medium exporters. CBEC directed field formations to ensure expedited payment of refund claims for service tax attributable to exported goods, instituted a monitoring framework requiring Commissioners to report claims not finalised within an initial short period to the Chief Commissioner and to escalate further-delayed claims to CBEC, and instructed prioritised disposal for small and medium exporters.