Traders clueless about new tax system, Hotel customers flay price hike.
Bengaluru: Goods and Service Tax which was rolled out at the stroke of midnight has led to confusions with dealers and angered the common man. Wholesalers and retailers complain of the complex nature of the new tax regimen. Confusion prevailed over Bangalore’s wholesale hubs such as Chickpet, B.V.K. Iyengar Road and Avenue Road.
Prashanth Mittal of Gupta’s Textiles and Cut Piece Centre said, “It is good that union government is trying to streamline the taxation system. After all they are taking these kinds of firm decisions for the benefit of the nation. But what is much needed is massive awareness on how this GST is going to affect them.”
He also demanded workshops for the wholesalers and retailers to that they can adjust to the new system.
Stating that they are already getting adjusted to the new reform, Shivarudraiah, Manager, Sri Venkateshwara Silks, said, “Our business is running as usual. From today we have turned ‘GST applicable’. Till our billing software gets upgraded to the new tax regime we are opting for manual billing.”
Asked on how this new tax regimen is expected to help improve the nation’s GDP, Shivarudraiah was certain that the GST will help improve the situation and maintained that it will take some time to measure how it will help.
When Deccan Chronicle approached BJP MLA Lehar Singh Siroya, who is also a businessman, he said the new tax regime is a panacea to wash out parallel economy and is for the good of the citizens. He stated that it will take some time for everything to settle down.
Why do you think a Bengalurean sets up his business 40 km away at Hosur in Tamil Nadu? That's because the tax for a certain business is less in that state, while the same is higher in Karnataka. GST was introduced in the first place to wipe out all these differences, he said.
50 per cent business unaccounted’
“Being a person who is into business, I can say that over 50 per cent of economy in Bengaluru is unaccounted. Electrical and electronics, gold and real estate industry operate majorly without any account,” Singh said and added this may not be possible once GST in place.
“Nobody can afford to stay out of GST network as anyone who is buying a product from outside that network will not be eligible for input tax credits when he sells the product later,” Singh explained.
Eating out costs up
People who went to their favorite eateries and restaurants were in for a shock as their regular idlis, vadas, dosas and filter kaapis became dearer by '2-3. Restaurants with an annual turnover below Rs 75 lakh have to charge its consumers 5 per cent, while it is 12 per cent for those with a higher turnover.
Photos of a bill from city’s iconic Mavalli Tiffin Rooms (MTR), which is known for its filter coffee and masala dosas, were doing the rounds in social media Facebook and WhatsApp. In the bill, GST rate of 18 per cent was divided into two slabs-Central GST and State GST respectively. A cup of coffee, which was priced Rs 34, has now gone up to Rs 38 after the roll out of GST. Upset with this hike, netizens have posted images of restaurant bills on various social media platforms and wondered whether these were the achche din promised by PM Modi during his election campaign?
Old stocks a worry
Traders who have stocked up goods worth crores of rupees before the roll out of GST aren’t sure on what to do with it. Though some traders had carried out discount sales to clear non-GST stocks, still many shops did have old stocks. Traders demanded that the government provide clarity on how to proceed with the non-GST stocks.
