Letter of Undertaking

India-Specific

Declaration by an Indian exporter to claim zero-rated export status under GST without paying IGST.

Sources

1. CBIC — Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, section 16 (Zero rated supply) taxinformation.cbic.gov.in accessed 22 September 2026

Section 16 of the IGST Act, 2017 defines a zero rated supply as “(a) export of goods or services or both; or (b) supply of goods or services or both for authorised operations to a Special Economic Zone developer or a Special Economic Zone unit.” It then gives an exporter two routes: supply “without payment of integrated tax, under bond or Letter of Undertaking” and claim a refund of unutilised input tax credit; or supply “on payment of integrated tax and claim refund of the tax so paid”. Neither route applies where the goods are subject to export duty.

The Letter of Undertaking is the instrument behind the first route: it lets a registered exporter make the zero-rated supply without paying IGST up front. The conditions and form are set by the GST rules and notifications, which are not reproduced here.

Related terms

• APEDA
• CBIC
• CII
• DGFT
• ECGC India
• EEPC India

From the AJG lexicon archive (July 2026).