NEW DELHI: Infosys, TCS Wipro and a host of top-tier IT and ITeS services providers could soon be able to get their service tax refunds without any upfront scrutiny as the government looks to streamline and speed up the refund mechanism.This is part of the Narendra Modi-led government’s initiative to make it easy to do business in the country. This scheme will cover companies that have a credible tax-paying compliance record and will enable these firms to get service tax refunds as and when they claim them without having to go through the time-consuming and cumbersome process of first getting these claims scrutinised and audited. These claims will undergo the normal scrutiny process but the refunds of these companies will not be held up till the process is completed.Delay in refunds has been a huge issue in the industry for the past 4-5 years with repeated attempts to resolve it through directives falling flat. Thousands of crores of tax refunds of services exporters are pending with tax authorities, especially in the IT and ITeS sector. "We are working out a mechanism. The idea is to clear the backlog and to make the process faster," said a finance ministry official.The current proposal, under discussion, could work on the lines of Accredited Client Programme in Customs that allows clients assessed as highly compliant assured facilitation in clearances by the risk management system. The window is also expected to take care of smaller services players who face working capital issues due to stuck refunds. A directive is expected to be issued soon after the new framework is finalised. Blocked refunds have particularly hurt smaller companies. The refunds relate to all the input taxes used by these companies while exporting services."Refunds should not be held back. A structural overhaul in the system can address the systemic issues," the official, who did not wish to be named, told ET. Few years back, a provision was introduced to grant 80 per cent refunds upfront and remaining later, after audit and scrutiny, but the facility was withdrawn for services exporters.Tax experts emphasise on the need for streamlining refund process. "Any delay in service tax refunds is denying exporters their due benefits...it is important that the refund process is streamlined and this can only happen if suitable guidelines are laid down in law for early sanction," said Bipin Sapra, partner - tax & regulatory services - indirect tax, EY. They say low-risk candidates should be considered for upfront refunds."Under GST, upfront payment has not been proposed but the draft process talks about time-bound refunds after which an interest of 6 per cent would be paid to businesses. The government should perhaps review this in more detail and have a provision of upfront refunds, at least for large businesses, who have low risk grading," said Pratik Jain, partner, KPMG in India. The new regime will also help clean up the system ahead of the goods and services tax regime.ET View: To end refund woes, adopt GSTService tax refunds must be hassle-free for every exporter who makes a legitimate claim. Indeed, India’s software exporters have a huge problem, and giving them refunds without scrutiny will help improve their cash flows. The pilot project can be extended to other sectors after testing its robustness. But such hassles will end when the Centre and states adopt GST. All the taxes paid will be refunded automatically. As exports will be zero rated, the final service, too, will be spared of tax. A speedy roll-out is what exporters need.