Indian exporters have claimed refunds worth Rs 6,500 crore in the first four months of implementing the Goods and Services Tax (GST), an official statement said on Wednesday.

Giving this information, the government also asked exporters to file claims in the proper format with matching shipping bills to facilitate early refund of the Integrated GST (IGST) paid. 

"It is clarified that the quantum of IGST refund claims as filed through shipping bills during the period July to October, is approximately Rs 6,500 crore and the quantum of refund of unutilised credit on inputs or input services, as per the RFD-01A applications filed on GSTN portal, is to the tune of Rs 30 crore," a Finance Ministry release said here. 

The Ministry also said that businesses can upload the final sales returns for August in GSTR-1 on the GST Network (GSTN) portal from December 4. 

Of the IGST paid on goods exported, a majority of refund claims for exports made in July have already been sanctioned, the statement said. 

"Refund claims of IGST paid for exports made in August, September and October 2017 are being sanctioned seamlessly wherever returns have been accurately filed," it said.

The Ministry also asked exporters to file GSTR-3B and Table 6A of GSTR-1 on the GSTN portal and the shipping bills on the Customs EDI System. 

"It has been observed that certain common errors such as incorrect shipping bill number in GSTR1, mis-match of invoice number and IGST amount paid, wrong bank account etc. are being committed by exporters while filing their returns," it said. 

"These errors are the sole reason for delay in grant of refunds, or rejection," it added. 

Exporters can also contact jurisdictional customs authorities to check errors in filing GST returns and shipping bills and rectify them at the earliest, the statement said. 

"Exporters may take due precaution to ensure that no errors creep in while filing Table 6A of GSTR 1 of August 2017 and onwards," it said. 

In case exporters have committed errors in filling up July claim forms, they can make changes by filling up Table-9 of GSTR-1 of August returns, it added.

For claiming input tax credit (ITC), exporters will have to ensure that all the necessary documents are submitted along with the Form RFD-01A for timely sanction of refund.