SOFTEX Is Gone. If You Send Designs or Code Abroad, You're a Software Exporter.

For years, software exports from India had their own form. SOFTEX was filed with STPI or an SEZ, certified, and sent on to the bank. Most freelance developers never filed one, usually because their bank coded the payment as consultancy rather than as a software export.

From 1 October 2026, SOFTEX is gone. Software is declared on the same Export Declaration Form (EDF) as every other service. That part is widely reported.

What's less noticed is how the new rules define "software", and what that means for people who never thought of themselves as software exporters.

Not legal or tax advice. This reads the definitions in the FEMA (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026. How your bank classifies your work is a conversation to have with it and your CA.

The definition

Regulation 2(1)(e):

"Software" means any computer programme, database, drawing, design, audio/video signals, any information by whatever name called in or on any medium other than in or on any physical medium.

And an explanation under Regulation 2: "for the purpose of these regulations, 'services' shall also include 'software'."

Read that list again. A Figma file is a design. A logo is a drawing. A cut of a video is audio/video signals. A dataset is a database. All of them delivered over the internet rather than on a disk.

So under these regulations, a developer, a UI designer, an illustrator and a video editor billing a client abroad can all be software exporters.

Why the label matters now

Before October, the label decided whether you filed SOFTEX or nothing. Now everyone files an EDF, so you might think the label stops mattering. It matters in two places.

1. Who you can file with

Regulation 2(1)(f) names the "specified authority" for each kind of export:

For most freelancers that's the same answer: the bank. Units already registered with STPI can keep filing there.

2. When you can file

Regulation 3(2)(b) gives exporters of services other than software an extra option: file the EDF "on or before the date of receipt of payment," instead of within 30 days after the month the invoice was raised.

Software exporters don't get that option. You're on the fixed monthly cycle: everything invoiced in October, declared by 30 November. (The full calendar.)

The practical difference is small. If you follow the month-end rule you're never late either way. But if you'd planned to file "when the money comes in" and you send designs or code, that plan doesn't fit the text.

The grey edge

The definition ends with "any information by whatever name called." Read literally, that could reach a consultant's report sent as a PDF, or a marketing plan in a shared doc.

That would make almost every digital service "software." It's unlikely to be read that broadly in practice, but the text doesn't draw the line for you. Two sensible responses:

• Don't rely on the pay-day option unless your work is clearly a service and not a deliverable file (advisory calls, live support, management time).
• Ask your bank how it classifies you, and keep its answer in writing with your records.

"I used P0802 so I didn't need SOFTEX"

A common setup under the old rules: a freelance developer's bank coded inward payments under a consultancy purpose code rather than a software export code, and no SOFTEX was ever filed.

That route doesn't avoid anything now. Every service export, software or not, needs an EDF. Purpose codes still matter for what the bank reports about each payment, and they still need to match the work. If yours doesn't, read your invoice says one thing, your bank told the RBI something else.

If you were already filing SOFTEX

• Invoices dated before 1 October 2026 stay under the old framework, including any SOFTEX already filed or due for them.
• Invoices dated from 1 October 2026 go on the EDF.
• If STPI was your filing route, check whether you'll continue there or move to your bank. Both are allowed for software.
• Old SOFTEX-related items that needed RBI approval can now be handled by your bank under Regulation 20.

What doesn't change for software exporters

• GST. Software and design services to foreign clients are still zero-rated exports under an LUT if they meet the export conditions.
• SAC codes. The SAC on your invoice is a GST classification. Being "software" under FEMA doesn't change it. Use the SAC that fits your service.
• The payment deadline. Nine months from invoice date, same as other services. More here.

Where Mavoin fits

Whether your bank calls you a software exporter or a services exporter, the EDF draws on the same data: invoice number, date, client, country, currency, amount. Mavoin keeps that for every export invoice, alongside the SAC code and LUT line, and exports it as CSV when month end comes. ₹199/month, 30-day trial, no card.

Start your 30-day trial.

Mavoin is not a Chartered Accountant service. Verify FEMA specifics with your bank and CA.