📢 Supreme Court Has Settled It: Visa & Education Consultants Are Exporters — Not Intermediaries. Claim Your Full GST Refund from 2017.
If your firm receives commissions from foreign universities for student recruitment, counselling or visa assistance — and you have been paying GST on that income since 2017 — the Supreme Court of India has now confirmed this was never taxable in the first place.
It qualifies as export of services. You can claim your full GST refund from July 2017 to date — there is no 2-year time bar applicable to these cases.
Responds personally within 1 working day · No obligation · Completely confidential
The Supreme Court Ruling — In Plain English
For years, the GST department classified visa and education consultants as “intermediaries” — agents who merely arrange a transaction between two parties. Under Section 13(8)(b) of the IGST Act, the place of supply for intermediary services is within India, making the income taxable at 18% and blocking the export of services classification.
Consultants challenged this vigorously. Multiple High Courts examined the actual nature of services — student counselling, documentation, application processing, compliance support — and held that these are independent, principal-to-principal professional services rendered directly to a foreign university. Not intermediary services. The place of supply is therefore outside India under Section 13(2), qualifying the revenue as export of services: zero-rated, with full refund entitlement.
In KC Overseas Education Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. vs Union of India & Ors., the CBIC challenged these High Court rulings by filing Special Leave Petitions before the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court dismissed the SLPs — refusing to interfere with the High Court judgments and granting them finality across India. GST authorities cannot now legitimately classify these services as intermediary services. The classification as export of services is the settled law.
- The department's 18% GST demand on foreign university commissions was legally incorrect
- Your services constitute export of services — zero-rated under GST
- GST paid from July 2017 to date is refundable — covering the entire GST era
- The Supreme Court's dismissal of Revenue's SLP makes this the settled position of law
- Officers cannot raise fresh intermediary objections based on this classification
Do You Qualify? The 4-Point Eligibility Test
You likely qualify for a GST refund if all four of the following apply to your business:
- ✅ You are a registered GST taxpayer in India (proprietor, firm, LLP or company)
- ✅ You provide student recruitment, counselling, visa assistance or education advisory services to overseas institutions
- ✅ Your service recipient is a foreign university or overseas institution — not the Indian student personally
- ✅ You receive payment in convertible foreign currency (USD, GBP, AUD, CAD, EUR, etc.) via bank transfer
The standard 2-year limitation under Section 54 of the CGST Act does not apply to these cases. The reason: the GST department itself was responsible for the wrong classification of your services as “intermediary.” A taxpayer cannot be penalised by a limitation period when the incorrect tax position was imposed by the very authority that must refund the tax.
Courts have consistently held that where the law itself was misapplied by the department — and the taxpayer had no genuine basis to know the correct position until judicial clarification — limitation cannot be used to deny the refund.
This means you can claim GST refunds all the way back to July 2017, when GST was introduced — covering every year you paid GST on foreign university commissions.
💰 How Much GST Can You Recover? The Numbers Are Significant.
Because the 2-year limitation does not apply, you can recover GST paid on foreign university commissions from July 2017 right through to the current date — that is potentially 7+ years of wrongly-paid GST. Here is what the recovery looks like at different income levels:
| Annual Commission from Foreign Universities | GST Paid p.a. @ 18% | 7-Year Refund Potential |
|---|---|---|
| ₹10 lakh | ₹1.8 lakh | ~₹12.6 lakh |
| ₹25 lakh | ₹4.5 lakh | ~₹31.5 lakh |
| ₹50 lakh | ₹9 lakh | ~₹63 lakh |
| ₹1 crore | ₹18 lakh | ~₹1.26 crore |
* Illustrative estimates assuming consistent commission income over 7 years at 18% GST. Actual refundable amount depends on your GSTR filing history, ITC position, the refund route (IGST refund vs. accumulated ITC refund), and the specific years for which you paid GST. A proper case assessment is required before filing.
GST Department Objections — And Exactly Why They Fail
Even with a Supreme Court dismissal on record, GST officers continue to raise objections on refund applications. Here are the three most common — and the precise legal counter for each:
Our counter: The education/visa consultant does not merely arrange a supply between the student and the university. They independently provide professional services — screening, counselling, documentation, compliance — as a principal to the foreign university. This fails the three-party, two-supply test for intermediary under Section 2(13) read with CBIC Circular 159/15/2021-GST. Multiple High Courts have so held. The Supreme Court has dismissed the Revenue’s challenge. Section 13(8)(b) is inapplicable.
Our counter: This objection fails entirely. The 2-year limitation under Section 54(1) cannot be invoked to deny a refund that arises from a wrong classification imposed by the department itself. The taxpayer paid GST under a classification that the department mandated (intermediary services), and only courts have subsequently corrected this position. Where a taxpayer is prevented from filing a refund claim because of the department’s own incorrect position, the limitation period is either condoned or runs from the date when the correct legal position was judicially established. Courts have accepted this argument, and consultants have successfully claimed refunds for periods going back to July 2017. The entire GST period is open for refund.
Our counter: Section 2(6)(iv) IGST Act requires payment in convertible foreign exchange or INR where permitted by RBI. Commissions received via SWIFT transfer in USD/GBP/AUD with a FIRC or BRC from the bank fully satisfy this condition. Where any amounts were received in INR, specific RBI permissions and FEMA regulations govern whether this satisfies the condition — which requires case-specific analysis.
Every objection is answerable — but the answer must be filed correctly and cite the right circulars and judgments. This is exactly what we do.
Our 5-Step Process to Recover Your GST Refund (Back to 2017)
- 📋 Step 1 — Free Case Assessment (1–2 days): We review your full GST return history from 2017 onwards, commission invoices, FIRC/BRC records and ITC position. We calculate the total refundable amount across all applicable years
- 📂 Step 2 — Document Compilation (3–7 days): GSTR-1/3B reconciliation for each financial year, invoices to foreign universities, FIRC/BRC from bank, LUT details (if applicable), bank account validation on portal
- ✍️ Step 3 — RFD-01 Filing With Legal Memorandum: We file for each applicable period with a detailed legal note citing KC Overseas Education, the HC rulings, Circulars 159 and 230, and specifically addressing why limitation is not a bar
- 📧 Step 4 — Officer Query and SCN Management: If a deficiency memo or show cause notice is issued (especially on limitation grounds), we respond with precise legal submissions refuting the time-bar argument
- ✅ Step 5 — Refund Credit: Amount credited to your bank account with full reconciliation of each period recovered
⏱️ Multi-year refund cases typically take 3–6 months from filing. However, given the strong judicial support and the settled position on limitation, the outcomes are well-defended.
Why Visa & Education Consultants Across India Engage CA Haard Shah
- ⭐ Deep expertise in the KC Overseas Education ruling and all relevant High Court judgments — including the limitation waiver arguments that unlock pre-2022 refunds
- ⭐ Our RFD-01 filings include a legal memorandum that pre-addresses the limitation objection — the #1 reason refunds get delayed or rejected for older periods
- ⭐ We file year-by-year for the entire 2017-to-date period — maximising your total recovery
- ⭐ Haard Shah personally handles your case — not delegated to a junior or clerk
- ⭐ Transparent assessment — we tell you exactly what is recoverable before you commit to anything
“We had paid 18% GST on overseas university commissions for 5 years. CA Haard Shah filed RFD-01 for all five years with a detailed legal note on the limitation issue, and we received ₹38 lakh across two tranches. Exceptional work.”
— Overseas Education Consultancy, Ahmedabad
📞 +91 9033231693 · Mon–Sat 10am–6pm · haard@ymshah.com
For Chartered Accountants Advising Visa & Education Consultant Clients
If you have clients in the visa, overseas education or student recruitment space who have been paying GST on foreign university commissions — their refund entitlement covers the entire GST period from July 2017, and the amounts are often very substantial.
We provide specialist back-end support for CA firms: eligibility review, multi-year RFD-01 filings with legal submissions (including limitation waiver arguments), deficiency memo and SCN responses, and adjudication representation — all without disturbing your client relationship.
- Full eligibility review and multi-year refund quantum assessment (2017 to date)
- RFD-01 filings with legal memorandum citing SC dismissal and limitation waiver principles
- Deficiency memo and show cause notice responses
- Adjudication and appeal representation if required
📋 Request Your Free Case Assessment
CA Haard Shah will personally review your case and respond within 1 working day with a clear picture of your total refund potential — from 2017 to date. No obligation. Completely confidential.
Or WhatsApp directly: +91 9033231693
✉️ haard@ymshah.com · Mon–Sat 10am–6pm