The government has constituted a committee to review the rates of tax refund under the export schemes – Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) and Rebate of State and Central Taxes and Levies (RoSCTL).
Both these schemes are set to expire by the end of this financial year and the committee has been given time till March 31, 2026 to submit its main report. The panel is headed by former secretary Neeraj Kumar Gupta.
RoDTEP scheme was introduced in January 2021 as a replacement of Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) after it was successfully challenged at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by the US.
It covers exports of 10,642 products and provides refunds of taxes ranging from 0.3% to 4.3%. RoSCTL was also introduced in 2021 for textiles and garment exporters.
Under the RoSCTL scheme, the maximum rate of refund of taxes paid at the production stage for apparel is 6.05%; while for made-ups, this is up to 8.2%. Garments and made-ups segments such as home textiles products are covered under the scheme.
According to a government order, the other two members of the committee are SR Baruah, former Principal Chief Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise, and former member of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs Vivek Ranjan.
For finalising its recommendations, the committee will interact with the administrative ministries, export promotion councils, commodity boards, trade bodies and other stakeholders.
The panel will also work out the modalities for calculation of duties, taxes. levies at the central, state and local level on the exported product, including prior stage cumulative indirect taxes on goods and services used in the production of exported product.
In their report, the committee will recommend the ceiling rates under RoSCTL and RoDTEP schemes for exports from domestic tariff areas, special economic zones, and advance authorisation holders.