Market Briefs / freelancing
Indian freelancers no longer file a separate EDF for overseas payments
RBI amended the 2026 export regulations on November 2, effective from October 1. A resident individual exporting services is now deemed to have submitted the Export Declaration Form once they give their bank the details needed to credit the payment; other exporters get the same treatment up to ₹10 lakh per remittance. CBIC also confirmed that payments into repatriable rupee accounts keep GST export status.
Published
What happened?
The Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2026, published November 2 with effect from October 1, define a “resident individual” and add two provisos to regulation 3(2). A resident individual exporter of services is deemed to have submitted the EDF when they provide the information required for receipt of payment to the Authorised Dealer crediting their account. A person other than a resident individual gets the same deemed submission where the inward remittance is not more than ₹10 lakh or its equivalent. Separately, CBIC Circular 263/09/2026-GST of October 26 clarifies that export-of-services payments received in convertible foreign exchange, or in repatriable rupee accounts such as SNRR or INR Nostro accounts, meet the IGST Act’s export payment condition.
Why it matters
When the new regime started on October 1, it looked like a new monthly filing chore for every solo freelancer billing overseas clients. For individuals, the remittance details given to the bank now do that job, whatever the amount. LLPs and companies only get the shortcut for remittances up to ₹10 lakh. Realisation deadlines are unchanged: generally nine months for foreign-currency invoices and 12 months for rupee invoicing, unless the bank grants an extension.
What should you do?
Answer your bank’s purpose-code and invoice queries on each inward remittance promptly, because that information now counts as your EDF. Keep the contract, invoice and FIRC or e-FIRA together for every payment, and track the realisation date on each invoice. If a platform pays you in rupees, confirm it lands in a repatriable account so the payment stays a zero-rated export under your LUT. Firms receiving more than ₹10 lakh in one remittance should keep following their bank’s EDF process.