The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is examining an information technology industry demand to make the goods and services tax portal a single digital window for all IT export reporting and certifications, officials told ET.
The move to streamline the export registration process comes at a time when the sector remains rattled by indications that the Trump administration could extend tariffs to software imports into the US.
The ministry is expected to take up Nasscom's demand to scrap the Reserve Bank of India’s proposed new Export Declaration Form (EDF) for software exports, extend submission timelines and remove invoice value limits, at the inter-ministerial level, officials said.
"The government has always worked for ease of doing business in the sector. We are studying these demands, and other government stakeholders will be informed of the issues being faced by firms," a government official said.
Under the existing regime, software exports are reported using the Software Export Declaration form (SOFTEX), administered by the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI). This form is tailored to the nature of software exports, including digital delivery, recurring billing and no physical movement of goods.
With a few enhancements to capture export-specific data, Nasscom believes the SOFTEX framework can be integrated into the GST system, which is already used by all software exporters to file returns.
"This will eliminate duplicate filings and reconciliations, ensure consistent, real-time export data, save time and compliance costs, and improve regulatory oversight and auditability," it said in a submission to the government in August.
The industry body also pushed back against the EDF, citing it could add costs, create delays and disrupt the smooth flow of service export revenues.
"Introducing the EDF risks increasing the paperwork and complexity for software exporters, many of whom already navigate multiple overlapping systems including GST, STPI, export data processing and monitoring system (EDPMS), and authorised dealer (AD) banks," Nasscom said.
The proposed EDF restricts consolidated invoice filings to Rs 1 lakh. Calling the limit “impractical”, the industry body said any such limits should be based on the number of forms, not invoice amounts.
Other issues
It had also called for extending the current 21-day deadline for software exporters to submit documentation for services to 30 days from the end of the invoice month. It argued that the current timeline is too narrow for large enterprises managing global invoices.
Many large software projects require full advance payments exceeding Rs 25 crore. In its submissions, Nasscom called for this cap to be made flexible, citing the scale and diversity of Indian tech exporters.
IT exports rose 12.48% in FY25 to an estimated $224.4 billion, from $199.5 billion in FY24 when the growth was slower at 2.83% in FY24.
Despite the pandemic and trade war-induced volatility, IT exports had remained on the growth path for the past five years. However, the growth rate had swung wildly, registering 8.98%, 17.01% and 3.4% rise in FY23, FY22 and FY21, respectively. The government credits the sustained rise in IT exports to the expansion of software exports through the STPI scheme. STPI-registered units posted exports of Rs 10.64 lakh crore in 2024-25.
