(FE)
GST impact: Local grocery shop owners seem to have adopted a wait and watch approach after the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on Saturday. Grocery store owners have adopted this strategy, as they think they will get some clarity about what they are supposed to do in a few days. Most grocery store owners think that the prices of commodities will not rise immediately and that the headache of the new taxes will be borne by the manufacturer. S B Chaudhary, who runs a grocery shop in Pimpri-Chinchwad, told the Indian Express that retailers are likely to wait for a few days till they get a clearer picture of their role. Chaudhary said, ”GST has been implemented, shop owners are likely to wait for a few days and wait for a clearer picture to emerge”.
On Saturday, the first day under the new tax regime, the items sold in Chaudhury’s shop received goods that mentioned Value Added Tax (VAT) and not the GST. Chaudhury said, ”It seems that the old tax system will stay for some time,” although he did say that the GST was a good move by the government and that the new tax regime will ease the tax burden on retailers, Indian Express reported.
