Letter-of-Undertaking

Letter of Undertaking is commonly known as LUT. The Letter of Undertaking (LUT) is prescribed to be furnished in form GST RFD 11 under rule 96A, whereby the exporter declares that he/she would fulfil all the requirements prescribed under GST while exporting without making IGST payment.

Filing Letter of Undertaking is mandatory to export goods or service or both without payment of Integrated Taxes (IGST). If LUT has not been furnished, the export can only be made through payment of IGST or by furnishing an export bond Initially, only the options of export bond was allowed. However, to improve ease of doing business, the Government introduced LUT. LUT was to be filed offline at the concerned GST office. Now, the Government has made the process of filing GST LUT online . Now, exporters can file LUT online through their respective GST Portal account easily by following the steps below.

Entities not eligible to submit Letter of Undertaking as per the conditions mentioned above would have to furnish an export bond along with bank guarantee. The bond should cover the amount of tax involved in the export based on estimated tax liability as assessed by the exporter himself. Export bond should be furnished on non-judicial stamp paper of the value as applicable in the State in which the bond is being furnished.

Also, exporters can furnish a running bond, so that export bond need not be executed for each and every export transaction. However, if the outstanding tax liability on exports exceeds the bond amount at any time, then the exporter must furnish a fresh bond to cover the additional liability.

Export bonds and letter of undertaking can be submitted to the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner of the concerned jurisdiction. However, once FORM RFD-11 is made live on the GST Portal, the document can be submitted online.