CBIC paid Rs 1.12 lakh crore as IGST Refund to Exporters

Current context: The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has paid IGST refunds worth over Rs 1.12 lakh crore to exporters till date.

• The information was given in the release by CBIC and the refund was given to over 83,500 exporters.
• The release also said that refunds of only Rs 3,604 crore are pending with Customs and about 3.4% of total exporters including “Star exporters” have been identified as Risky i.e. Red flagged.
• Risky exporters are those who suspected to claim excessive input tax credit (ITC) based on fake invoices.
• Star exporters are certified by the government on the basis of export performance and extended certain benefits including customs clearance on self-certification basis and exemption from furnishing bank guarantee under certain schemes.
• Exporters can claim IGST refunds on exports in two ways:

1. On the basis of issuance of a bond/letter of undertaking (LUT) at the time of exports and claiming a refund of accumulated ITC.
2. By paying IGST in cash at the time of exports and claiming refunds thereafter.

• As per the government, since advent of GST on 1st July 2017, 77% of India’s exports have been under LUT, which are unaffected by the verification exercise being done by the CBIC officials.

Question: 

Q.1 The Goods and Service Tax (GST) came into effect in India on? 
a. 1st June 2015
b. 1st July 2016
c. 1st July 2017
d. 1st June 2018