Kurnool: Mom and Pop stores are wary of the Goods and Services Tax and witnessed lukewarm trade deals on the first day of newest tax regime in the country. The white goods dealers spent the day only in delivering goods booked in previous trading days. No new business was done on the first day of GST regime, said an authorised dealer of white goods from Nandyal town in Kurnool district. Most of the Carry and Forwarding (C and F agents) of manufacturers just kept themselves to passing the day without actively engaging trade deals and are on "wait and watch mode".
Belying all hopes of one nation one tax, GST regime was ushered in with lot of doubt and suspicion among the trading community in Kurnool district.
Groceries and Kirana, which are run by Vysya community for years, are known to have their own system of accounting and stock clearing mechanism. With new GST mandating every business with a turnover of more than '20 lakh to obtain a code, the traders dealing with rice, pulses, and oil seeds are not ready and doing it on their own way. District Chamber of Commerce president Vijaya Kumar Reddy said that business will comply with the new system once we get operational clarity from the commercial taxes department.
He said that GST system requires monthly returns, followed by quarterly and annual returns, along with invoice matching, is one of the key concerns.Vasantha Gupta, a rice trader said that many shops are not yet prepared for GST.
Under the GST, businesses should avoid any transaction with unregistered companies as everything gets documented and could result in reverse taxation.
Many petty shops, which are not registered, may run out of business and most traders, fearing for their livelihood, have threatened to protest the implementation of the GST.
