Do you charge GST on export orders from a Shopify store in India?

Is an export order zero-rated under GST?

Section 16(1) of the IGST Act lists exports first among zero-rated supplies:

Export of goods means "taking goods out of India to a place outside India", such as a Shopify order shipped to a foreign address. Services sold abroad are a separate question.

Section 7(5)(a) of the IGST Act treats a supply from India to a place outside it as inter-State trade, and section 24 of the CGST Act requires registration from anyone making an inter-State taxable supply, whatever their turnover.

Because exports are inter-State, the composition scheme is closed to exporters: it excludes anyone "making any inter-State outward supplies of goods".

Zero-rated goods leave India by one of two routes: an LUT or bond, or, unless your goods are excluded, paying IGST and claiming it back.

How does an LUT work, and what does it commit you to?

Section 16(3) lets a registered person export "without payment of integrated tax, under bond or Letter of Undertaking" and claim back unutilised input tax credit under section 54 of the CGST Act.

Rule 96A(1) of the CGST Rules asks for that bond or LUT in form GST RFD-11 before you export. You file the LUT on the GST portal for a financial year, and it is deemed approved if the tax official takes no action within 3 working days.

A CBIC circular makes the LUT valid for the whole financial year in which it is tendered. The portal guide closes it to anyone prosecuted for tax evasion of Rs 2.5 crore or more.

In return, the LUT carries three obligations:

• You owe the tax with interest if the goods are not exported within three months of the export invoice, or a longer period the Commissioner allows; it falls due 15 days after that.
• If sale proceeds for exported goods are not realised, section 16(3) makes you deposit the refund received, with interest, within 30 days after the Foreign Exchange Management Act time limit for receiving the money.
• If you miss the rule 96A payment, the export under bond or LUT "shall be withdrawn forthwith". Until it is restored, the circular sends exports through payment of IGST or a bond with bank guarantee.

When can you pay IGST on an export and claim it back?

Notification 01/2023-Integrated Tax, as amended, allows the IGST route for all goods except those in its Table; the GST Council's amendment summary names pan masala, tobacco and gutkha among the Table goods.

Since October 1, 2023, section 16(3) covers only exports under bond or LUT; paying IGST and claiming it back rests on section 16(4), under which the Government notifies which classes of persons or goods may do so. Guides written before that date describe two options under section 16(3).

Section 16(5) adds that "no refund of unutilised input tax credit on account of zero rated supply of goods or of integrated tax paid on account of zero rated supply of goods shall be allowed where such zero rated supply of goods are subjected to export duty."

For goods, rule 96 treats the shipping bill as the refund application and credits the IGST to the bank account in your registration details. Customs can withhold it, for example for goods exported in violation of the Customs Act.

Courier exports of commercial goods involving foreign exchange go on a Courier Shipping Bill-V (CSB-V). A Ministry of Finance press release of September 13, 2024 says the "benefit of IGST refund is already available for Courier exports through ECCS"; it doesn't name CSB-V.

IGST Act, CGST Rules, GST portal, GST Council, CBIC courier and Ministry of Finance texts, read September 29, 2026.

What must your export invoice say?

Rule 46 of the CGST Rules requires an endorsement on the export invoice; under an LUT or bond it reads:

On the IGST route it ends "ON PAYMENT OF INTEGRATED TAX". The export invoice must also show the recipient's name and address, the delivery address and the name of the country of destination.

Whether an export invoice also needs an IRN depends on your aggregate turnover; see which Shopify invoices need an IRN, and by when.

Shopify's GST in India help page says "Shopify doesn't create a GST-compliant bill" and points to a local third-party GST invoicing service or a Shopify App Store app.

What do Shopify tax settings do for an export order?

Shopify's India GST page splits tax by state, with IGST "for orders outside the state where your business is located". That page and the tax overrides, tax-inclusive pricing, manual tax and duties pages we read on September 29, 2026 don't describe Indian GST on export orders, an LUT or zero-rating.

Before your first export, place a test order to a foreign address and check whether the checkout adds IGST.

For India, Shopify's taxes overview offers Manual Tax, where you set rates yourself, or paid third-party tax apps. The India GST page says your store's initial settings are "provided only as a starting point".

Shopify's pages describe two ways tax comes off an order generally, not for Indian exports: a tax-exempt customer or product is charged no tax, and with tax-inclusive prices set by the customer's country, buyers where you aren't required to charge tax pay only the product portion of the price. The trap: a customer marked tax exempt under tax-included pricing "is still charged the full listed product price".

Whatever tax setup you use, fill in product HS codes: "HS codes are required for all international orders", and the India page says you can store the HSN code in the HS tariff code field.