Note · 1 October 2026
The Export Declaration Form from 1 October 2026: what changes for goods, services and software exporters
If you bill a client outside India, whether for goods you ship or for work you send over email, the export now has to be declared on an Export Declaration Form. RBI’s new export and import rules took effect on 1 October 2026, and a form that used to be mostly a shipping formality now reaches service and software businesses as well.
Where the rules come from
RBI notified the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026 on 13 January 2026 and gave businesses until 1 October to get ready. On 22 September it made a few last changes through an amendment, the biggest being a shorter time to bring export money home. Banks got their own instructions in A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 20 of 16 January 2026.
From 1 October 2026, the 2015 export regulations and RBI’s two Master Directions on exports and imports no longer apply. The new regulations leave anything done before that date under the old rules, so a September 2026 invoice should not need the new form. It is still worth checking how your bank or STPI is handling invoices that straddle the change.
Which route does your export take?
For goods exporters the filing itself changes little. At EDI ports the shipping bill already carries the declaration, so there is nothing extra to file. Only at non-EDI locations does Customs certify a separate form and pass it on to your bank.
The real change is on the services side. Software companies used to have SOFTEX forms certified by STPI. That form has gone, and the EDF can now go either to your bank or to STPI. Consultants, designers, agencies and other service firms that never filed any declaration before now file one with their bank.
The monthly cycle for services
You do not need a separate form for each invoice or each client. One EDF covers all the invoices you raised to overseas clients in a month, and it is due within 30 days after that month ends. A service business outside software can also file it by the day the payment reaches it. If you are going to be late, write to your bank with your reasons; it can allow more time.
An October invoice, start to finish
When the client pays straight away
Many clients pay within days. Take the same invoice raised on 15 October 2026, with the money reaching your bank on 20 October.
Paying early does not remove the EDF. It changes only how quickly the bank can close the record. Where payment comes before the EDF is filed, the bank records the money first and links it to the invoice once the EDF arrives. A service business outside software can avoid that gap by filing the EDF on or before the day the money comes in.
What the form asks for
Most of it is information you already keep: your IEC, GSTIN and PAN, your bank’s AD code, the client’s name, address and country, and the invoice number, date, currency and amount. It also asks for the HSN or SAC code and the payment terms (advance, milestone, periodical and so on). For services there is a table with one line per client and invoice for the month.
If someone other than your client pays you, the form asks who they are and how they are connected to the client. Freight, insurance, commission and discounts come off the invoice value to show what you actually expect to receive. Goods sent free of cost can be shown at nil value. Taking the figures from the same invoice register that feeds your GSTR-1 export table keeps the two from drifting apart.
Other changes from 1 October 2026
Nine months, not fifteen. The January text gave exporters fifteen months to realise their money. The September amendment brought that down to nine months, or twelve where the export is invoiced or settled in rupees. Several articles written earlier in the year still quote fifteen, so check the date of what you are reading. Your bank can extend the period if you give reasons.
Small invoices. Where a shipping bill or invoice is for ₹10 lakh or less, the bank can close the entry, or accept a lower amount, on your own declaration. Declarations that payment has come in can also be given once a quarter, for all such invoices together.
Money stuck for too long. If an export payment is more than a year past its due date, further exports are allowed only against full advance payment or an irrevocable letter of credit.
Set-off and third-party payments. Your bank can let you set export receivables off against import payables with the same overseas party or its group, and accept payment from a third party once it is satisfied the deal is genuine.
Textile exporters have one more date to note. Under CBIC Circular No. 42/2026-Customs, shipping bills for certain fabrics must carry an extra product code from 1 November 2026. It is listed on our Updates page.
Check your bank’s procedure
Each bank sets its own process for receiving EDFs. Every bank now has to publish its export and import policy on its website, with the documents it needs, its timelines and its charges, so that is the place to start.
This note is general information and does not deal with any particular business. Mukul Nimrani & Co. acts only on a written mandate, and reading this page does not start any work. If you have read the official texts and still have a question, you can reach us through Contact.
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