FORM GST RFD-01 - Electronic export-without-payment refund application
A qualifying exporter has completed zero-rated supplies without paying IGST and claims eligible accumulated credit.
This page covers the current electronic RFD-01 application. The separate RFD-01A historical manual example explains the preserved pre 26 September 2019 processing period.
Responsible actor: The registered exporter submits the electronic claim through its authorised signatory. Provision: Section 54(1),(3),(8)(b),(15); rules 89(1)–(4),10B,96A,96B.
Official source and completed example
Download official blank source extract PDF Download completed fictional sample PDF
The sample is a flowed model of the prescribed fields and selected paragraphs, not an official issued PDF. Names, references and facts are fictional. It contains no signature, stamp, DSC or simulated approval.
Current electronic claim for July 2026, filed 1 September 2026; checked 21 October 2026. January 2022 source structure is supplied with 2022–24 form amendments and current undertaking/invoice clarification; no historical section 42 matching requirement retained.
Worked facts and completed entries
Branch A, current electronic claim: Aster exports a consignment of learning kits under a valid FY 2026–27 LUT. Invoice EDU-EXP-260712 dated 12 July 2026 has value INR 1000000; the goods depart India by air on 15 July. Invoice and FOB values are both 1000000; like-goods domestic comparator value is 1000000, so its 1500000 cap does not reduce the selected value. Eligible July inputs/input-services ITC is CGST 60000 and SGST 60000, total 120000, with no capital credit. All adjusted turnover is the same 1000000 export value; both period-end and filing-date ledgers hold at least 60000 per head. The claim filed 1 September 2026 is 120000, matching the worked acknowledgement/provisional Branch A. No actual ARN, shipping bill, bank certificate or official acceptance is reproduced.
1–5. Applicant and tax period
| 1. GSTIN / temporary ID | 29AABCA0000A1ZT; temporary ID not applicable |
|---|---|
| 2. Legal name | Aster Learning Supplies Private Limited (fictional) |
| 3. Trade name | Aster Learning Shop (fictional) |
| 4. Address | 12 Learning Park, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560001 (fictional) |
| 5. Tax period from / to | 2026 July /2026 July:1–31 July 2026 |
| Filing date / teaching reference | 1 September 2026 / ILLUSTRATION-RFD-A-2026-0901, not a portal ARN |
| LUT / authentication facts | Valid FY 2026–27 LUT and rule 10B authentication assumed verified; no executed LUT or identity certificate supplied |
6. Refund amount claimed
| Act | Tax INR | Interest INR | Penalty INR | Fee INR | Other INR | Total INR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Tax | 60000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60000 |
| State Tax | 60000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60000 |
| Integrated Tax | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cess | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 120000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 120000 |
7. Ground selection and order fields
| Selected ground | (c) Exports of goods/services without payment of tax — accumulated ITC; goods selected |
|---|---|
| Ground(a) | Excess cash-ledger balance: not selected; nil cash claim |
| Ground(b) | Export services with payment of tax: not selected |
| Ground(d) order subtypes | Assessment / final provisional assessment / appeal / other order: none; order number/date/authority/payment reference all not applicable |
| Grounds(e)–(h) | Inversion / SEZ with tax / SEZ without tax / deemed exports: not selected |
| Grounds(i)–(l) | Unprovided supply / change in place of supply / excess tax / other: not selected |
| Initial IGST-paid goods refund route | Not selected; ordinary rule 96 shipping-bill route is distinct from this accumulated-credit claim |
Export declarations — selected and current basis
The assumed goods are not subject to export duty, satisfying current section 54(15). Aster has not taken drawback in respect of central tax or claimed refund of IGST paid on the same export supplies. It seeks this eligible accumulated ITC once. The historical blank’s old proviso numbering must be read with the current provision; a declaration cannot establish export completion without the shipment evidence.
Conditional declarations — not selected
Inverted-rate declaration under section 54(3)(ii), SEZ no-tax-collected declaration under rule 89(2)(f), and supplier/recipient deemed-export declarations under rule 89(2)(g) are not applicable because no such supplies or claim category exist in this worked case.
8. Bank particulars
| Bank name / branch address | Illustration Bank /12 Learning Park, Bengaluru560001; fictional |
|---|---|
| IFSC | EDU-IFSC-01 — non-valid, non-routable teaching label |
| Account type / number | Current / EDU-RFD-ACCOUNT-01 — non-routable fictional label |
| Account holder / validation | Aster Learning Supplies Private Limited (fictional); actual filing requires the genuine specified/validated account |
9. Unjust-enrichment self-declaration
| Applicability | Not required:the selected refund is unutilised ITC within section 54(8)(b), an express rule 89(2)(l)/(m) exception |
|---|---|
| Declaration/Annexure2 professional certificate | Not selected; no accountant certificate is fabricated or required merely because this is a refund claim |
Current section 16(2)(c) repayment undertaking
Aster, through Meera Rao, undertakes to repay the sanctioned refund with applicable interest if the section 16(2)(c) tax-payment condition is later found unfulfilled for the refunded credit. The deleted section 42(2) reference in the January 2022 source is not adopted. This is the current undertaking described by circular 197/09/2023, not a claim that GSTR-2/3 matching is operational. No signature is executed.
Rule 96B export-realisation undertaking
Aster undertakes to deposit any sanctioned refund with applicable interest if the goods-export proceeds are not realised within the applicable FEMA period/extension and rule 96B recovery applies. The fictional case assumes full proceeds, INR 1000000 equivalent, received 28 July 2026 and evidenced by the actual authorised-dealer bank record in a real file. No bank-issued certificate is reproduced, and no default/recovery is assumed.
10. Verification
I, Meera Rao, authorised director of the fictional Aster Learning Supplies Private Limited, affirm the information true to the stated hypothetical facts and nothing concealed, and declare no earlier refund received for this account. Place:Bengaluru. Date:1 September 2026. Signature/DSC:not executed; this educational model is not an application or acknowledgement.
Annexure1 — Statement3, one complete goods-export row
| Column1. Serial | 1 |
|---|---|
| Columns2–5. Document type / number / date / value | Invoice / EDU-EXP-260712 /12 July 2026 / INR 1000000 |
| Column6. Goods/services | G — goods |
| Columns7–9. Port / shipping bill / date | Bengaluru air cargo / EDU-SB-A01 /13 July 2026; teaching labels, not a Customs record |
| Column9A. FOB value — later inserted field | INR 1000000 |
| Columns10–11. EGM reference/date | EDU-EGM-A01 /15 July 2026; fictional export departure assumed, no official certificate simulated |
| Columns12–14. BRC/FIRC number / date / value | EDU-AD-RECEIPT-A01 /28 July 2026 / INR 1000000 equivalent; fictional banking reference, not an issued bank document |
| Shipment-performance check | 15 July departure is 3 days after 12 July invoice, within ordinary goods-export period |
Statement3A — refund calculation
| Zero-rated turnover INR | Net ITC INR | Adjusted total turnover INR | Refund INR |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1000000 | 120000 | 1000000 | 120000 =1000000 ×120000 /1000000 |
Invoice/ledger supporting working
| Evidence item | Central Tax INR | State Tax INR | Treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eligible input-goods invoice EDU-IN-260701 | 45000 | 45000 | Reported eligible invoice; actual receipt/tax/section 16/17 conditions assumed met |
| Eligible input-services invoice EDU-SVC-260705 | 15000 | 15000 | Reported eligible invoice; no blocked/private/exempt portion |
| Capital-goods credit included in this claim | 0 | 0 | Capital ITC is excluded from rule 89(4) Net ITC |
| Available at July-end and filing, per head | 60000 | 60000 | Sufficient for the claimed debit; no competing refund debit |
| Debit for this application | 60000 | 60000 | 120000 combined debit to electronic credit ledger under rule 89(3) |
Current turnover and invoice checks
FOB1000000 and invoice 1000000 give the same export value. The 1.5-times like-goods domestic value is 1500000, above the selected value. The same 1000000 enters adjusted total turnover; no hidden denominator change inflates refund. Invoice eligibility is reconciled to GSTR-2B under circular 197 for January 2022 onward, actual GSTR-1/GSTR-1A if applicable and GSTR-3B. No GSTR-2 filing is assumed. The example has no domestic/exempt turnover or capital-goods refund.
Inactive Annexure1 branches — completed category disposition
| Prescribed branch / statement | Completed disposition in this selected case |
|---|---|
| Statements1/1A — inverted duty | Not applicable; no inverted-duty claim. The older Statement1 formula is not represented as current rule 89(5). |
| Statement2 — export services with tax | Not applicable; goods exported without payment selected. |
| Statement3B — export electricity, inserted 2022 | Not applicable; no electricity export. |
| Statements4/4A/5/5A — SEZ | Not applicable; no SEZ supplies or endorsements claimed. |
| Statement5B — supplier/recipient deemed exports | Not applicable; no deemed exports or recipient waiver assumed. |
| Statement6 — changed place of supply | Not applicable; no intra/inter-State correction claim. |
| Statement7 — excess tax, substituted 2023 | Not applicable; no excess-tax refund. |
| Statement8 — unregistered cancellation claim, inserted 2022 | Not applicable; registered exporter claim, no service-contract cancellation. |
| Statements9A/9B — upward export price revision, inserted 2024 | Not applicable; no supplementary invoice/debit/credit note, additional IGST or post-export price revision. |
| Annexure2 — unjust-enrichment certificate | Not applicable by rule 89(2)(m) exception for section 54(8)(b); accountant name/membership/signature all not selected. |
How this form moves the matter forward
- Choose the exact refund category and current eligibility/limitation basis; ordinary IGST-paid goods export uses the rule 96 route unless a distinct rule 89 provision applies.
- Complete applicable statements, invoice/FOB/turnover and eligible-credit checks, authentication, declarations and genuine bank particulars; debit only the eligible claim.
- Submit electronically, retain the real ARN and track RFD-02/03, any RFD-04 and final RFD-06/05 without duplicate refund of the same credit.
Evidence supporting these entries
- Valid LUT, invoice, shipping bill and actual Customs departure/EGM evidence
- Eligible invoice/receipt/tax records, GSTR-2B and return/credit-ledger reconciliation
- FOB/comparator/turnover working, bank validation and actual foreign-receipt evidence
Additional primary authority: Circular 125/44/2019-GST,18 November 2019, paragraphs 2–4, PDF pages 1–3:pre 26 September 2019 manual claims preserved; ordinary electronic RFD-01 route from 26 September 2019. Later circular 197 modifies the undertaking/invoice guidance..
Additional primary authority: Circular 197/09/2023-GST,17 July 2023, paragraphs 1.3–1.4 and 2, PDF pages 2–3:GSTR-2B eligibility and removal of section 42/GSTR-2/3 undertaking references; paragraph 3, PDF page 4, consistent FOB/export value in adjusted turnover.
Additional primary authority: Notification 14/2022-Central Tax,5 July 2022, paragraph 18, PDF pages 12–13:Statement3 column 9A FOB value and Statement3B electricity; rule 89(4) valuation explanation.
Additional primary authority: Notification 26/2022-Central Tax,26 December 2022, paragraph 22, PDF page 13:Statement8 for unregistered service-contract cancellation claims.
Additional primary authority: Notification 38/2023-Central Tax,4 August 2023, paragraph 27, PDF page 14:substituted RFD-01 Statement7 for excess tax/interest/other claims.
Additional primary authority: Notification 12/2024-Central Tax,10 July 2024, paragraph 41, PDF pages 34–35:current instruction 10 references GSTR-1/GSTR-1A; Statements9A/9B for additional IGST on upward export-price revision.
Period and legal consequences
The two-year relevant-date test is satisfied by the stated 15 July 2026 air departure and 1 September filing. Statement3 now includes FOB value. Later statements apply only to their actual categories. Original source pages 260–270 contain RFD-01; pages 271–278 contain distinct manual RFD-01A and 280–281 manual-order upload RFD-01B, so neither is substituted for the current application.
Primary source and exact locator
Official notified form source: PDF pages 260-270; printed pages 254-264.
CGST Act and government-hosted Act and Rules compilation - Section 54(1),(3),(8)(b),(15); rules 89(1)–(4),10B,96A,96B. Source and example revision: 21 October 2026.
Questions answered by this example
Who prepares or issues this form?
The registered exporter submits the electronic claim through its authorised signatory. A qualifying exporter has completed zero-rated supplies without paying IGST and claims eligible accumulated credit.
Can this sample be filed or treated as an issued document?
No. It is a completed fictional teaching example. Use the notified form and the authenticated portal/proceeding record for an actual matter. The example contains no executed signature or official approval.
What must reconcile before the next step?
Valid LUT, invoice, shipping bill and actual Customs departure/EGM evidence; Eligible invoice/receipt/tax records, GSTR-2B and return/credit-ledger reconciliation; FOB/comparator/turnover working, bank validation and actual foreign-receipt evidence.