AEPC seeks refund of IGST paid on machinery imports

Mumbai: Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), the official body of apparel exporters in India, has urged the Finance Ministry to release the refund of IGST paid by the exporters on machinery imports.

Mumbai: Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC), the official body of apparel exporters in India, has urged the Finance Ministry to release the refund of IGST paid by the exporters on machinery imports. The apparel manufacturers need to pay 18% IGST on assessable value coupled with basic customs duty while transporting the goods under Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme.

The trade association claims that this (the implementation of IGST) has led to a rise in the working capital requirement and production cost of the exporters.

Ashok G Rajani, Chairman, AEPC said, “Apparel exporters can only claim IGST refund under input tax credit. However, the exporters who import capital goods, export 100 per cent of their products to the overseas market. Thus, these exporters won’t be benefited by the input tax credit as they don’t sell their products in the domestic market.”

The AEPC further informed the Finance Ministry that the refund mechanism of the input tax credit has become a matter of serious concern amongst the apparel exporters.

The body has urged the Ministry to remove the complexities in the refund process and take steps to encourage exporters to invest, expand, employ and export.