One Nation One Tax - Divided by States in LUT!!

[Anuj Bansal]

Exports under GST have been categorized as Zero Rated supplies which can be made with or without payment of IGST. One can do exports without payment of IGST either under Bond or LUT. Under this article analysis has been done for the list of documents required to be furnished for obtaining LUT in the states of Delhi, UP, Haryana & West Bengal. Following are the list of documents required for the same:-

S.No	Particulars	Delhi	Haryana	UP	West Bengal
1	Request for acceptance of GST RFD-11 on Letter head of the company	Required	Required	Required	Required
2	Letter of Undertaking	Letter Head of the Company / Notarized Non judicial Stamp paper	₹ 100 Stamp Paper / Letter Head	₹ 300 Stamp Paper	₹ 100 Stamp paper duly notarized – 2 Copies
3	RFD-11	Letter Head of the Company	Letter Head of the Company	Letter Head of the Company	Letter Head of the Company
4	PAN of the company	Required	Required	Required	Required
5	Export House Status  Holder Certificate	Not Required	Required, if applicable	Required, if applicable	Required, if applicable
6	Bank Remittance Certificate / FIRC (2016-17) – 10% of Export Turnver	Required	FIRC Required	FIRC Required	BRC Required
7	Balance Sheets for Previous Year	Not Required	Not Required	Not Required	Required
8	Bank Certificate for receipt of Foreign remittance (10% of Export turnover)	Required	Not Required	Not Required	Not Required
9	Authorization letter for Authorized Signatory	Required	Required	Required	Required
10	Board Resolution in favour of Authorized Signatory	Required	Required	Required	Required
11	PAN of Signing Authority	Required	Required	Required	Required
12	Passport / Adhaar card / ID proof of signing authority	Required	Required	Required	Required
13	Trade License	Not Required	Not Required	Not Required	Required
14	GSTN copy / Provisional ID	Required	Required	Required	Required
15	Export House / RCMC (Registration cum membership certificate)	Not Required	Not Required	Not Required	Required
16	IEC Code	Required	Required	Required	Required
17	Export Order Copy	Not Required	Not Required	Not Required	Required
18	2 Witness – Photo ID Proof	Required	Required	Required	Required
19	ID and Address Proof of Director	Required	Required	Required	Not Required
20	Undertaking / Affadavit that registered person has not been prosecuted for any offence	On Letter head of the company	On ₹ 100 stamp paper	On ₹ 100 stamp paper	Not Required
21	CA Certificate	Not Required	Not Required	Required	Not Required
22	Copy of ST-3 Return for F.Y. 2016-17	Not Required	Required	Not Required	Not Required
23	Export Bill / Invoice	Required	Not Required	Not Required	Not Required
24	Copy of DVAT-16 of all 4 quarters of 2016-17 or GSTR-3 of all months for proceeding year.	Required	Not Required	Not Required	Not Required

After analyzing the aforesaid table, it can be seen that though most of the documents required by the states for filing application for LUT are same. But there are certain specific documents like last year’s Balance Sheet, ST-3 (Service Tax returns), VAT Returns, Bank certificate, etc which are specifically required by few states. Though Government often claims GST as one nation one tax but when it comes to actual implementation and practicality of situations the story is somewhat different. Every state has published their own set of document and it’s very difficult for the tax payer to contact officials of specific state and inquire for list of documents required for LUT. GST common helpline number is always short of answers & they often shrug shoulders saying contact the respective state department. Few states like Haryana have launched their GST helpline number which is available on their website https://haryanatax.gov.in  but in other states contacting officers and receiving information on the subject matter is a herculean task. Had there been a standard format for all states then it would be quite easy for the tax payers to obtain LUTs from the department without much efforts. This is just a beginning of GST era, however, it is believed that things will be streamlined in future and GST will surely prove its tag line ‘One Nation One Tax’.