Do I need an LUT to avoid paying IGST upfront on export orders?
The short answer
Yes, file a Letter of Undertaking (LUT) on the GST portal, it's free, valid for a financial year, and lets you export goods and services without paying IGST upfront and then claiming a refund later, which is a real cash-flow drag for a small exporter. Without an LUT, you either pay IGST on every export invoice and wait months for a refund, or you're exporting non-compliantly, which risks your IEC. Renew it every financial year, it lapses, and it's one of the most commonly missed annual compliance items.
A quick summary to orient you. The real value is below: the resources worth your time, from people who've actually done it, not us.
Here are the resources
Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time. India-specific ones carry a badge.
Why we picked it
A neutral, non-marketplace explainer of the IEC from a trusted Indian tax source, good to cross-read alongside Amazon's version so you understand the compliance, not just the sales pitch.
Why we picked it
The IEC is the one document you cannot export without, and this explains what it is, who needs it, and the DGFT application steps in plain language for first-time exporters.
Why we picked it
The exact page where you apply for and manage your IEC and complete the mandatory annual update, the actual tool, not a description of it.
