SEIS Certificate Overview

Under the Service Export Promotion Council (SEPC), there are various incentives that have been provided to reduce the tax burden and implication on various service providers. One of the incentives that have been offered is the Service Export of India Scheme (SEIS certificate) to boost the Indian services to become competent in the global market. This scheme has been announced by the government and is launched from 1 April 2015 under the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020.

This SEIS scheme rationalizes the incentives under the previous schemes, reduces various kinds of restrictions on the use of scrip issued under the scheme, and enlarges the scope of the earlier scheme. This scheme replaces the old schemes such as the Served From India scheme (SFIS) under Foreign Trade Policy (2009-2014). In this article, we will provide you with significant insights on the SEIS certificate and how to get the certificate based on the given eligibility criteria, documents, and fees charged to obtain the certificate.

What is a SEIS Certificate?

The SEIS certificate, also known as the Service Export from India Scheme, is the government incentive that is given to boost the service exports. This special scheme comes under the membership of SEPC registration and is designed under the scheme of Foreign Trade Policy (FTP). This certificate allows the service exporter to avail services directly from the government. Under this scheme, the duty credit scrips are offered to the service exporters so that they can pay for import-export trade without facing any tax burden individually. These duty scrips act like a voucher, and these vouchers are a percentage of net foreign exchange earned by exporting services in India.

Objectives of Service Export of India Scheme

Here are the objectives of the Service Export of India Scheme :

• To encourage Indian export services competitive in the global market.
• To allow direct benefits from the government.
• To support new market development.
• To incentive the export services of the Indian economy.

Benefits of SEIS Certificate

Here are the benefits of the SEIS certificate:

• Duty credit scrips: The duty credit scrips act like a voucher to reduce the load of taxes and duties from the payer. These types of credit scrips are generally valued at 3-5% at the net value of foreign exchange.
• Transferability: The duty credit scrips can be transferable to other businesses. This transferability provided extra liquidity to other businesses when providing the scrips.
• Cost reduction: Duty credit scrips are used to lower the burden of the taxpayer by offering reductions while paying customs duties on imported goods and central excise duty on local procurement, thereby reducing the overall cost of exporting.
• Increased competitiveness: This reduction of payment can help the Indian exporters perform well in the global competitive market.
• Encouragement of Export: As Indian exporters are provided with these scrips, they can also outperform in the global market. This faith will help to ensure exporters that they can also have the potential to drive the Indian market to level playing the global market.

Eligibility Criteria for SEIS Certificate

1. The eligibility criteria for SEPC registration is given as follows:
   • For companies: US$ 15,000
   • For proprietorship: US$ 10,000
2. Must have a 10-digit IEC code number.
3. As per the RBI, the exporter who received payment on the service which is provided is deemed to be a foreign exchange.
4. If a service provider is both a goods and service exporter, then it is to consider net foreign exchange on the service sector only.

Non-Eligibility Criteria for SEIS Certification

If the receiver receives remittances from abroad beside the earnings activities, the following are the conditions that don’t follow under the SEIS scheme:

• Loan repayment receipt
• Monetary gains
• Windfall gains
• Issuance of debts or foreign currency binds
• Gifts, donations, remittances, and equity participation

List of services exported from India

Here is the list of services that are allowed to export their services from India:

Documents Required for SEIS Registration

Following is the list of documents required under obtaining the SEIS registration:

• Importer Exporter Code (IEC Code)
• Application form ANF-3B (Aayat Niryat Form)
• CA Certificate
• Statement showing the nexus between Invoices and FIRC's (Table No 4)
• Write up of Services
• Self – Certified copy of invoice and FIRC
• DGFT Digital Signature Certificate (DSC)
• RCMC Copy
• Necessary Declarations

Services and Rate of Rewards

Here is the rate of rewards under service sectors for SEIS Registration:

Procedures for SEIS Registration

Here are the producers for obtaining the SEIS Registration:

1. Step 1: Fill out the application form: Any applicant who's willing to obtain the SEIS scheme needs to fill out the application form prescribed in the ANF 3B form with all required documents as per the latest SEIS scheme. If any applicant has more than one office, then it needs to file the application with the RA (Regional Authority) of DGFT under the area’s jurisdiction.
2. Step 2: Submit the requisite documents: After filling out the ANF 3B form, your next step is to submit all your required documents along with the RCMC. An applicant should make sure that the RCMC certificate must be obtained from the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC).
3. Step 3: Pay the application fees: After submitting the application form along with the requisite documents, an applicant needs to pay the prescribed fees to the concerned authority.
4. Step 4: Verification and approval: This step ensures that the application is verified by the DGFT and is headed towards the step of approval. If any error or mistake crept in within the documents, or application, an authority would suggest amending the mistake. If not, then the authority would approve the application of the SEIS certificate.
5. Step 5: Issuance of certificate: After getting the approval, then the authority shall issue the SEIS certificate to the concerned applicant.

Renewal and Validity of SEIS Certificate

A SEIS certificate is typically valid for 12 months from the date of issuance. The renewal must be done within one year before the date of expiration.

Time taken to obtain the SEIS Registration

For obtaining a SEIS registration in India, it can take up to 2–3 weeks from the date of application.

Why choose Bizfoc for SEIS Certification?

Here are the top five reasons why you should choose Bizfoc for registering themselves under registration:

• Hassle-free procedures
• Cost-effective solution
• Respond to all your queries and doubts via communication mediums
• Free assistance of experts
• Proven success

We, the team of Bizfoc experts, will help you to overcome the problems via communication mediums regarding SEIS membership certificates online. You can either contact us by way of email or direct phone number to get connected to our experts without any hesitation. So, for registering for your exporting services under SEIS membership registration, get free assistance today to proceed with your application successfully by undergoing hassle-free procedures.

Conclusion

The SEIS certificate is a kind of reward-offering incentive that is provided to Indian service exporters. This certificate offers duty credit scrips, which allows the service providers a relaxation from the tax burden and custom duties. To obtain the SEIS certificate, an applicant needs to gather certain documents, which are required at the time of submitting the application form first. This submission calls the concerned authorities, like DGFT, to take action of verification and approval for obtaining the certificate.

Frequently Asked Questions about SEIS Certificate