When Does a Duty-Credit Scrip Expire, and How Not to Lose It
A duty-credit scrip is money the government owes you, but only for a while. It carries an expiry, and an expired scrip is value that simply vanishes. Here is the clock, what it does to the price, and how to make sure you never watch one lapse.
The clock: roughly 24 months from issue
A duty-credit scrip does not last forever. RoDTEP and RoSCTL scrips expire roughly 24 months from the date they issue, and once a scrip expires its value is gone, it cannot be sold and it cannot be applied against duty. Unlike a claim you can chase later, an expired scrip is simply money left on the table. That single fact is why the expiry date matters as much as the face value.
Why the price falls before the deadline
The loss is not only at the very end. A scrip loses value as it approaches expiry, because a buyer has less time to apply it against duty. The Scrip Reference Rate bands this by time to expiry: more than 90 days out earns full value; 30 to 90 days carries a small adjustment, roughly 0.18% to 0.35% below full value in the example bands; and under 30 days is sell-now priority, roughly 0.60% below. So the real cost of waiting shows up well before the scrip lapses. A scrip does not improve with age.
Where the expiry date lives
You do not have to track it on a spreadsheet. When a scrip issues into your Scrip Ledger, its expiry travels with it, and the status (Issued, Reserved, Transferred) and the expiry band are visible against the scrip. The ledger is the single place the clock is shown, so the information you need to act is next to the scrip itself, not buried in an ICEGATE screen you have to go hunting for.
The simplest way to never lose one: Autopilot
The surest defence against a lapsed scrip is to not rely on remembering. Autopilot sells every future scroll at the SRR or better, above a floor you set such as 97.00% of face, whole scrips only. Because it acts as scrips issue rather than waiting on your attention, a scrip does not sit in the ledger drifting toward expiry unnoticed. Anything outside your guard-rails is not sold quietly; it is held for your tap. You keep the veto without keeping the calendar reminder.
If you would rather sell by hand
If you prefer to sell manually, the rule of thumb is to move a scrip while it is comfortably clear of the 90-day band, when it still earns full value, rather than letting it drift into the adjusted bands. Sell oldest expiry first. One firm Sell Now offer, benchmarked to the SRR and locked for sixty seconds, turns the scrip into cash the same business day. The goal is simply this: decide before the clock decides for you.
Where to go from here
Check the expiry on any scrip sitting in your ledger, and if you export on a rhythm, set an Autopilot floor once so the next one never drifts. Read the Scrip Reference Rate to see exactly how the expiry bands move the price. See how ScripX works for exporters.
Frequently asked questions
When does a duty-credit scrip expire?
RoDTEP and RoSCTL scrips expire roughly 24 months from the date they issue. Once a scrip expires it cannot be sold or applied against duty, so its value is lost. The expiry date travels with the scrip in your Scrip Ledger.
Does a scrip lose value before it expires?
Yes. Price falls as expiry nears because a buyer has less time to use the scrip. The Scrip Reference Rate bands this: full value beyond 90 days, a small adjustment of roughly 0.18% to 0.35% between 30 and 90 days, and sell-now priority of roughly 0.60% under 30 days. These are example bands, not today's rate.
How do I make sure I never lose a scrip to expiry?
Set Autopilot, which sells every future scroll at the SRR or better above a floor you set (such as 97.00%), whole scrips only, as each scrip issues rather than waiting on your attention. Anything outside your guard-rails is held for your tap. If you sell by hand instead, move each scrip while it is comfortably clear of the 90-day band and sell oldest expiry first.
