Export Declaration Form (EDF) Filing — What Replaced SOFTEX from 1 October 2026
If you export software or services from India, you no longer file a SOFTEX form. A single consolidated Export Declaration Form (EDF) now covers exports of goods, services and software alike. This page sets out what replaced SOFTEX, when the EDF is due, who you file it with, and how the money is tracked until it reaches you.
What changed, in one table
The change comes from the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, notified as FEMA 23(R)/2026-RB on 13 January 2026 and amended by FEMA 23(R)/(1)/2026-RB on 22 September 2026. It took effect on 1 October 2026.
| Until 30 September 2026 | From 1 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| SOFTEX form for software and IT-enabled service exports | One consolidated EDF covering goods, services and software |
| Certification routed through STPI (or the SEZ authority) | For exports from a domestic tariff area: your AD bank or STPI. SEZ and STP units: the SEZ Development Commissioner |
| Separate treatment for software versus other services | Single declaration, same form, whatever you export |
| Realisation generally 15 months (18 months if settled in rupees) | 9 months from invoice date; 12 months if invoiced or settled in Indian Rupees |
A warning about the realisation figure. A great deal of commentary published earlier in 2026 — much of it still online — quotes 15 months, or 18 for rupee-settled exports. Those were the figures in the January version of the regulations. The amendment of 22 September 2026 cut them to 9 and 12. If you are working from an article written before late September, check the date before you rely on the number.
Who has to file an EDF
Any exporter of services. The obligation in Regulation 3 is not limited by sector, by client location, or by how the service is delivered — software sent down a data link, consulting delivered over video, design work, back-office processing and professional services all sit inside it.
There is no value threshold. This is the single most common misreading of the new rules. A one-off invoice for a small sum is as declarable as a monthly retainer running into crores. The old mental model — that small exports somehow slipped below a reporting line — does not survive the 2026 regulations.
The one exemption spelled out in Regulation 3 has nothing to do with services: a traveller moving personal effects out of India, accompanied or unaccompanied, is not treated as an exporter.
If you were never filing SOFTEX in the first place
Plenty of small exporters never did, often because nobody told them it applied. The change of form does not reset that history. Invoices raised up to 30 September 2026 sat under the SOFTEX regime and any entries already open in EDPMS still have to be reconciled and closed in the normal course — the new regulations do not wipe them. If you have a backlog, deal with it as a backlog rather than assuming a clean slate.
The three deadlines that actually matter
30 days from month end
The EDF is due within 30 days from the end of the month in which the invoice was raised. One EDF may cover every service and software export you made in that month. You may instead file on or before the date you receive payment.
9 months from invoice
Export proceeds must reach you within 9 months of the invoice date, or 12 months where the export is invoiced or settled in Indian Rupees. Project exports follow the payment terms of the contract instead.
One year past due
If proceeds stay unrealised beyond one year from the due date, Regulation 13 bites: you may then export further only against full advance payment or an irrevocable letter of credit.
That third one is the provision worth internalising, because it is not a penalty in rupees — it is a restriction on how you are allowed to trade. A business that lets receivables drift can find its ability to take normal credit-terms work curtailed. For an exporter whose clients expect 30 or 60 day terms, being forced onto advance payment or an LC is a commercial problem long before it is a compliance one.
Extensions exist, and they are discretionary. Your Authorised Dealer may extend the realisation period if you ask and the reasons satisfy them. That is a conversation to have before the deadline passes, with the correspondence to show why the money is late — not afterwards.
Who you file with — and why this is the real change
Regulation 2(1)(f) names the "specified authority" the EDF goes to. For software and services exported from a domestic tariff area, it reads: an Authorised Dealer or Software Technology Parks of India (STPI). For units inside an SEZ or operating under the STP scheme, it is the Development Commissioner of the SEZ.
That "or" carries more weight than the change of form does. Under the old regime, STPI was the route by which a domestic-tariff-area software exporter got a SOFTEX certified, which is why so many companies took a Non-STP registration they otherwise had no use for. From 1 October 2026 the AD bank is a parallel authority. If your bank handles your declarations, a Non-STP registration is not required purely to get your exports declared.
| If you are | Your EDF goes to |
|---|---|
| A software or services exporter in a domestic tariff area | Your AD bank, or STPI — either is a specified authority |
| A unit inside an SEZ | The Development Commissioner of the SEZ |
| A bonded unit under the STP scheme | The Development Commissioner route, as part of your scheme obligations |
Whether you should keep an STPI registration is now a commercial question rather than a compliance one, and it turns on whether you want the STP scheme itself. We have set out the decision in detail on our STPI registration page.
How an export moves through the system
- You raise the invoiceThe clock starts here for services — both the 30-day declaration window, which runs from the end of that month, and the 9-month realisation period, which runs from the invoice date itself.
- You file the EDFOne form can carry the whole month's service and software exports. It goes to your AD bank or STPI, or to the SEZ Development Commissioner if you are inside a zone.
- The entry reaches EDPMSThe Export Data Processing and Monitoring System is where the Reserve Bank tracks every declared export against the money that comes back. Under Regulation 18, for exports not routed through an EDI port, the AD enters the details within five working days of receiving the EDF.
- Payment arrives and is matchedYour AD bank matches the inward remittance to the declared export and closes the EDPMS entry. An entry that is never closed is what shows up later as an outstanding export bill.
- The file closesClosure is the point of the exercise. Declaring an export and then leaving the entry open achieves nothing except an audit trail of unfinished business.
Most problems are matching problems. Exports get declared and payments get received, but the two never meet in EDPMS — because the remittance came in a lump covering several invoices, or through a payment gateway that nets fees before crediting you, or against a purchase order number the bank cannot tie to the declaration. The fix is almost always in how the paperwork is described at the point of filing, which is why it pays to get the first few right.
When you cannot collect the full invoice value
Exports go wrong. Clients dispute, discount, deduct bank charges, or simply fail. The regulations anticipate this rather than pretending otherwise.
Reduction in export value — Regulation 6
An Authorised Dealer may approve under-realisation or non-realisation where you give reasons. For shipments or invoices up to ₹10 lakh, the reduction can be permitted on the strength of a declaration from you, which is a materially lighter process than the alternative. Above that figure, expect to document the commercial reality — the correspondence, the dispute, the write-down.
Set-off against what you owe — Regulation 7
Where you both sell to and buy from the same counterparty, your AD may allow export receivables to be set off against import payables. This extends to the counterparty's overseas group or associate companies, not only the exact legal entity you invoiced — useful for exporters working with multinational clients who pay through one entity and contract through another.
Advance payments — Regulation 10
If you take an advance against an export, the transaction routes through the same Authorised Dealer to begin with. You can move it, but both dealers have to be told. The practical point is that advances are not outside the system; they are tracked into it.
The changeover — what happens to periods before October
Invoices raised up to 30 September 2026 belong to the SOFTEX regime. Invoices from 1 October 2026 onward are declared on the EDF. Existing SOFTEX filings and their EDPMS entries are not cancelled by the change — they remain open items to be reconciled and closed in the ordinary way.
We are being careful here deliberately. The regulations set an effective date but do not spell out a separate transition procedure for part-completed filings, and practice at individual AD banks is still settling. If you have open SOFTEX entries, unfiled periods before October, or a mix of both, confirm the treatment with your AD bank before you file rather than assuming. We would rather tell you to check than give you a confident answer the regulation does not support.
Questions exporters are asking
Is SOFTEX really gone, or just renamed?
Gone as a separate form. The 2026 regulations provide one consolidated EDF for goods, services and software, replacing the form previously used for reporting software exports. The underlying obligation — declare the export, realise the proceeds, close the entry — has not gone anywhere.
Do I still need STPI registration?
Not purely in order to declare your exports. For a domestic tariff area exporter, Regulation 2(1)(f) names an Authorised Dealer or STPI, so your bank can act as the specified authority. STPI registration remains relevant if you want the STP scheme itself, if you operate or plan to operate as a bonded unit, or if your bank is not geared up to handle software export declarations.
I invoice small amounts. Is there a minimum below which I can skip this?
No. The declaration requirement applies irrespective of the value of the export. The ₹10 lakh figure that appears in the regulations relates to something different — the lighter route for getting a reduction in export value approved under Regulation 6 — and is not a filing threshold.
Can one EDF cover a whole month of invoices?
Yes. A single EDF may cover all service and software exports made in that month, which is the point of the monthly cycle. It is due within 30 days from the end of that month.
My client pays in Indian Rupees. Does that change anything?
It changes the realisation period. Exports invoiced or settled in Indian Rupees get 12 months rather than 9. The declaration obligation and its timing are the same.
What happens if a client simply never pays?
Two things. First, the unrealised amount needs dealing with under Regulation 6, either on your declaration if the invoice is up to ₹10 lakh or with supporting documentation above that. Second, if it stays unrealised beyond a year from the due date, Regulation 13 restricts you to exporting only against full advance or an irrevocable letter of credit until the position is cleared.
Can the 9-month deadline be extended?
Yes, at your Authorised Dealer's discretion, on request, where the reasons satisfy them. Ask before the deadline rather than after, and have the commercial history to hand.
How TAXAJ handles this for exporters
- Working out whether your declarations should route through your AD bank or STPI, and what that means for any registration you currently hold
- Preparing and filing the monthly EDF against your invoice register, so the 30-day window is a routine rather than a scramble
- Reconciling inward remittances to declared exports and closing EDPMS entries — including the awkward cases where one payment covers several invoices or arrives net of gateway charges
- Clearing legacy SOFTEX entries that were never closed, and unfiled periods before October 2026
- Reduction and set-off applications under Regulations 6 and 7 where proceeds fall short
- Extension requests to your AD bank where realisation is going to run past the deadline
Source. Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026 — Notification FEMA 23(R)/2026-RB dated 13 January 2026, as amended by Notification FEMA 23(R)/(1)/2026-RB dated 22 September 2026, in force from 1 October 2026. Regulation 2(1)(f) defines the specified authority; Regulation 3 the declaration; Regulation 5 the realisation period; Regulation 6 reduction in export value; Regulation 7 set-off; Regulation 10 advance payments; Regulation 13 the consequence of prolonged non-realisation; Regulation 18 EDPMS reporting.
This page is general information current at the date of writing and is not advice on your particular facts. Rules and bank practice change. Before acting, check the position for your own case — we are happy to look at it with you.