GST refund stages and timelines: from RFD-01 to payment

Filing RFD-01 starts the refund process; it does not mean the officer has accepted the application as complete. The next document may be an RFD-02 acknowledgement or an RFD-03 deficiency memo. Our own application reached RFD-03 roughly two months after filing, following a call from the local GST office.

This guide covers refunds of accumulated ITC for service exports under LUT. It separates the official clocks from our experience and other applicants’ reports. For a memo or notice you have already received, use the RFD-03 and RFD-08 response guide.

Which stage am I at, and how many days should it take?

Forms are branches in the process, not a sequence that every claim completes from RFD-01 through RFD-09.

Stage	What happens	Official clock or practical check
Saved draft	You enter details and upload records across sessions	Maximum 15 days of draft retention; this is not a filed claim
RFD-01 filed; ARN generated	The claim goes to the refund-processing officer; the claimed credit is debited	Save the filing receipt. An ARN is different from RFD-02
Completeness review: RFD-02 or RFD-03	The officer acknowledges a complete application or identifies deficiencies	RFD-02 or RFD-03 should be issued within 15 days of filing
RFD-03 deficiency branch	Processing of that application ends; rectify and file a fresh RFD-01	Correct promptly and check limitation separately; a fresh ARN does not create a new two-year filing window
RFD-04 provisional refund, where applicable	Eligible claims can receive a provisional 90% refund	RFD-04 within 7 days of acknowledgement, subject to the current risk-based rules and exceptions
RFD-08 notice, if issued	The officer proposes disallowing all or part of the claim	File RFD-09 within 15 days of receiving the notice
RFD-06 final order	The officer sanctions the refund wholly/partly or rejects it	Section 54(7): order within 60 days of receiving an application complete in all respects
RFD-05 payment order and bank credit	Payment follows a provisional RFD-04 or final RFD-06 through PFMS and the accredited bank	Check payment and bank-validation status; a sanction order is not proof that money has arrived

The completeness and deficiency rules are explained in Circular 125, paragraphs 9–10. The final-order clock comes from CGST Act section 54(7); the notice-reply clock is in Rule 92(3). GSTN’s electronic workflow explains the forms and disbursement.

Do not add 15 + 7 + 60 days together as the promised processing time. These clocks have different starting points. RFD-02 identifies the filing date of the complete application; its later issue date should not automatically become a new filing date. A deficient application requires separate treatment.

CBIC also advises issuing RFD-06 and RFD-05 within 45 days of ARN so disbursement can complete within 60 days. This is administrative guidance, not another waiting period to add. Circular 125, paragraph 34.

Since 1 October 2025, system risk assessment identifies low-risk claims for the 90% provisional route. Other claims undergo detailed scrutiny. Eligibility conditions and exclusions still apply, and an officer can record reasons to examine a particular claim under Rule 92 instead. The instruction says this exception should be used sparingly, rather than merely because routine scrutiny has begun. The seven-day clock starts at acknowledgement, not ARN generation. Instruction 06/2025, Notification 13/2025, clause 4, Gazette copy hosted by BCAS.

Can I save RFD-01 and finish it in another session?

Yes. You do not have to finish the application in one sitting. Use Save, then return through Services → Refunds → My Saved/Filed Application. The portal manual permits saving at any stage but warns that an unfiled draft is purged after a maximum of 15 days. GST portal: saving and previewing RFD-01.

Plan to return before the limit, rather than treating “about 15 days later” as safe. Keep your working sheets and attachments locally, note when you created the draft, and do not assume another save restarts its life. Saving does not satisfy the refund filing deadline.

For example, prepare the claim pack first, enter and save it in one session, then use a second session to review the figures and downloaded documents before signing. This is a suggested workflow, not a requirement to spread filing over several days.

Our experience: roughly two months at RFD-01, then RFD-03

Our retained filing receipt and deficiency memo show 59 elapsed days between filing and the memo, well beyond the 15-day completeness window. We recall the application remaining at the RFD-01 stage until the local GST office called for details, followed shortly by RFD-03 and closure of that application in the portal. The documents establish the interval; the call and visible status sequence are our account of what happened.

The memo raised two distinct issues:

• A genuine attachment problem: supporting documents were described as illegible. We also identified a problem with an uploaded PDF.
• Refund eligibility and a disputed reading of the amounts: the memo recorded insufficient evidence of eligibility. Its remarks compared the refund requested with a smaller amount described as IGST on zero-rated supplies. In our filed computation, that smaller figure was turnover. Our reading is that turnover and tax had been confused.

That distinction matters. Turnover, eligible purchase credit and the refund requested are separate figures. Under the applicable formula, a refund can exceed export turnover; the comparison alone does not demonstrate that the claim is wrong. The worked refund calculation explains the export proportion, Net ITC and ledger limits. Every other eligibility condition still needs to be supported.

From our perspective the application had been returned and closed after a long wait. Procedurally, RFD-03 was a deficiency memo requiring a fresh application, rather than an RFD-06 final rejection order.

What does an RFD-03 look like?

It identifies the applicant and original claim, lists deficiencies and asks for a fresh application after correction. This is an anonymised outline, with the objections paraphrased; no private notice is reproduced.

Part of the memo	What to look for
Heading and reference	GST RFD-03, deficiency-memo reference and issue date
Applicant and application	Applicant details, original ARN and filing date
Deficiency reasons	Each selected reason and the officer’s additional explanation; in our case, legibility and refund-eligibility concerns
Required action	Correct the deficiencies and file a fresh refund application
Issuing authority	Officer’s designation and signature details

Keep the complete memo. Turn each reason into a correction or an evidence-backed explanation using the worked correction matrix. The original processing stops after RFD-03 and the debited credit is automatically recredited; verify the ledger. Circular 125, paragraph 10.

What have other applicants experienced?

Public accounts show that the wait varies substantially:

• An export-services applicant on TaxTMI reported filing on 10 September 2024 and receiving RFD-02 together with RFD-08 on 14 January 2025, roughly four months later. Their January update did not establish an eventual payment. Applicant’s discussion and updates.
• In a June 2026 Reddit discussion, an applicant who said they had filed LUT reported applying in early May, receiving 90% provisional refund within two weeks, and the balance in the third week of June. Applicant’s comment.

These are individual, self-reported experiences, not verified processing statistics. Together with our case, they show why a statutory deadline should not be treated as a cash-arrival forecast. They do not establish an average wait for your office or claim.

Before final submission: download, reopen and reconcile

Our strongest practical recommendation is to perform this check after uploading and immediately before final submission:

1. Download the application preview. Check the category, period, bank selection, turnover, Net ITC and refund by tax head against your final working.
2. Download uploaded PDFs back from their portal attachment links and open those copies. Check every page for missing text, blank pages, unreadable scans, clipped tables, wrong documents and incorrect page order. Checking only the file on your computer misses what was actually uploaded. If the screen offers no download, inspect its available attachment preview and reopen the exact upload file; do not mark an uninspected attachment as checked.
3. Retain the validated statement downloads. The current Annexure B instructions warn that validated invoice downloads will not remain available after submission. GST portal: validated invoices and application preview.
4. Add a short calculation explanation where figures could be misunderstood. Label export turnover, adjusted total turnover, eligible Net ITC, excluded capital credit, ledger limits and the amount claimed. Cross-reference the supporting pages. Do not assume the officer will reconstruct your reasoning from filenames.
5. Replace any defective attachment, save again and repeat the check. Then complete DSC/EVC filing and retain the ARN, filed application and final attachment set.

Expect a strict document review. Remove preventable defects and make unusual but valid calculations easy to follow. A clean PDF cannot guarantee approval, but an illegible one gives the reviewer a real issue to raise.

What should I do if the status does not move?

Check Services → Refunds → Track Application Status and download any notices/orders. Review email and SMS alerts, but retain the actual portal document and its receipt date. A phone call is useful context; the written form tells you the formal next step. GSTN refund workflow.

If the 15-day completeness window passes without RFD-02 or RFD-03, follow up with the jurisdictional refund officer using the ARN, filing date and a concise request for the pending action. Keep a dated record. Use GSTN support for a technical portal problem; seek the appropriate departmental grievance route for continued administrative delay. These are follow-up steps, not a reason to assume approval or file a duplicate claim.

For an RFD-03, check the statutory time limit for filing the corrected claim and verify recredit. For RFD-08, prioritise the 15-day reply period. If a complete claim remains unpaid beyond 60 days, have the applicable section 56 interest position and escalation reviewed. CGST Act, section 56.

The interest calculation can exclude taxpayer delay in replying or submitting documents beyond 15 days after receiving RFD-08, and time resolving specified bank-detail or validation failures. Preserve those dates too. Rule 94 amendment: Notification 38/2023, clause 14.