- Short answer
- Not if it is an export of services — five tests, including a buyer outside India paying in foreign exchange; it is then zero-rated
- Which products count
- E-books, music, software and online digital content are services under the IGST Act; no page we read names courses.
- The five tests
- Supplier in India; buyer and place of supply abroad; paid in foreign exchange or RBI-permitted rupees; not your branch.
- When it is not an export
- A buyer in India; or, under the general rule (not online information services), a buyer location you can't establish.
- Getting paid
- Nine months from the invoice date (twelve if invoiced or settled in rupees), under RBI rules from October 1, 2026.
Is a digital product a service, and when is it an export?
Shopify counts online services and downloadable files as digital products. For GST, section 2(17) of the IGST Act lists e-books, music, software and "online supplies of digital content" as online information services: services, not goods.
No IGST or CGST section, Schedule II entry or CBIC circular we read on October 3, 2026 names an online course or a template; confirm those with your tax adviser.
A sale is an export of services only when all five tests in section 2(6) hold:
- You, the supplier, are in India.
- The buyer is outside India.
- The place of supply is outside India; for online information services, the buyer's location.
- You are paid in convertible foreign exchange, or in rupees wherever RBI permits.
- The buyer is not your own branch or office abroad (not merely establishments of a distinct person).
When does a sale to a buyer abroad not count as an export?
It isn't an export when the buyer is in India, or when the buyer's location isn't available in the ordinary course of business under section 13(2)'s general rule, which excludes online information services: the place of supply is then your location.
A sale to your own branch abroad fails the fifth test; a sale to a separate foreign company doesn't. Fail any test and the sale is not zero-rated.
What must you do: register, file an LUT, get paid on time?
Section 24 of the CGST Act requires registration for any inter-State taxable supply, exports included. Notification 10/2017-Integrated Tax exempts service suppliers with all-India aggregate turnover up to Rs 20 lakh in a financial year (Rs 10 lakh in special category States).
Registered, you either supply without IGST under an LUT filed before the export (rule 96A) or pay IGST and claim a refund.
RBI's FEMA export regulations, in force from October 1, 2026, give a services exporter nine months from the date of invoice to realise and repatriate the payment, or twelve months if invoiced or settled in rupees.
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