Export-of-Services GST Checker
Do you need GST registration for overseas clients? Do you need an LUT? And — honestly — where does the law itself not have a settled answer?
This is a calculator, not tax advice. It estimates outcomes based on publicly available rules and typical provider pricing — it does not account for your specific circumstances. Rules and rates change. Verify anything you rely on with a qualified CA before you act on it. One question in Step 2 is presented as disputed rather than answered, deliberately — see the FAQ for why.
Step 1 — Does this qualify as export of services?
All five conditions must hold — Section 2(6), IGST Act.
Are you (the supplier) located in India?
Is your client (the recipient) located outside India?
Is the place of supply outside India?
For most services this follows the recipient's location. Note: if you act as an intermediary (arranging/facilitating a service between two other parties rather than providing it yourself), the place-of-supply rule for intermediaries changed — Section 13(8)(b) was omitted effective 30 March 2026, so intermediary services now generally follow the default Section 13(2) rule (recipient's location) instead of being fixed to the intermediary's own location.
Is payment received in convertible foreign exchange (or INR where RBI permits)?
Are you and your client independent parties (not merely establishments of the same distinct person)?
This usually only matters if you're invoicing a foreign branch/subsidiary of a company you're also part of.
Step 2 — Is GST registration required?
Export turnover counts toward aggregate turnover, even though it's zero-rated.
This is genuinely disputed — see below.
Below the threshold, exclusively exporting zero-rated services. Whether registration is still mandatory here is genuinely disputed — see both readings below.
Reading A: exports are treated as inter-state supplies, so Section 24 compels registration regardless of turnover.
Reading B: Section 23(1) exempts persons supplying wholly zero-rated/non-taxable supplies, so no registration is needed unless you want to file an LUT or claim ITC refunds.
This tool doesn't pick a side. Route this specific question to a CA — it genuinely depends on interpretation, and the consequences of guessing wrong run in both directions.
Step 3 — LUT or pay-and-refund?
If registered and exporting, filing an LUT lets you export at 0% without paying IGST upfront — better for cash flow in essentially every case than paying and claiming a refund.
LUT not applicable right now.
How this is calculated
Step 1 checks all five conditions in Section 2(6) of the IGST Act — every one of them has to hold for a supply to qualify as export of services: the supplier in India, the recipient outside India, the place of supply outside India, payment in convertible foreign exchange (or INR where RBI permits), and the two parties not merely being establishments of the same distinct person.
Step 2 applies the ₹20 lakh aggregate turnover threshold (₹10 lakh in special category states) — export turnover counts toward this even though it's zero-rated. Above the threshold, registration is required, full stop. Below it, if you have any domestic taxable supply at all, the standard small-supplier exemption applies cleanly. The one case this tool won't resolve for you is below the threshold while exporting exclusively — that specific combination is where practitioners genuinely disagree, for the reasons laid out above.
Step 3 is more straightforward: if you're registered and your supply qualifies as an export, filing an LUT (Form GST RFD-11, annually) lets you invoice at 0% IGST without paying it upfront and claiming it back later.
Frequently asked questions
Why doesn't this tool just tell me if I need to register below ₹20 lakh?
Because practitioners genuinely disagree on this specific question, and the two readings rely on different sections of the CGST Act. One reading treats exports as inter-state supplies that trigger mandatory registration under Section 24 regardless of turnover; the other reads Section 23(1)'s exemption for wholly zero-rated suppliers as applying here, meaning no registration is needed below the threshold unless you want an LUT or ITC refunds. A tool that confidently picks one answer here would be overstating its own certainty — this is a question for a CA, not a calculator.
Does export turnover count toward the registration threshold even though it's zero-rated?
Yes. This is one of the most common points of confusion — freelancers often assume export income doesn't count because no GST is charged on it, but it still counts toward your aggregate turnover for registration-threshold purposes.
What changed with intermediary services in 2026?
Section 13(8)(b) of the IGST Act — which used to fix the place of supply for intermediary services to the intermediary's own location, regardless of where the client was — was omitted with effect from 30 March 2026. Intermediary services now fall under the default Section 13(2) rule, which generally follows the recipient's location instead. This is a recent, meaningful change: it can newly qualify some intermediary arrangements as export of services that didn't qualify before.
Is LUT always better than paying IGST and claiming a refund?
For essentially every export-services consultant, yes — LUT (Form GST RFD-11) lets you invoice at 0% IGST upfront, while the pay-and-refund route ties up cash until the refund is processed. LUT is filed once per financial year and is the standard approach.
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