Shoma Patnaik
Panaji
As new Goods & Service Tax (GST) tax slabs kick in from September 22, consumers in the state can expect some relief on the price front with the office of the Commissioner of Commercial Tax, on Friday, disclosing that it would be monitoring prices to ensure that benefits of GST rate cuts are passed on to consumers.
Tax officials will be visiting stores to verify whether the MRP on groceries and household items etc, are lower at the retail-end, in line with the new, reduced GST rates. The monitoring will be done by officials from the eight GST wards who will check whether the MRP stickers on products reflect the new price.
To keep a track on the revised pricing, visits by tax officials is likely to take place on September 23, that is, a day after the new GST rates come into effect, and mainly to large, self-service department stores. Consumers can also approach the Commissioner’s office to complain if they believe that the pricing of packaged goods is not changed and does not reflect the new GST rates.
In the initial days, store owners will have to make sure that packaged goods carry the old as well as the new MRP, until stocks last. Although the prices of products are decided by the manufacturer, the task of affixing MRP stickers is on the retailer.
GST reforms are anticipated to bring down the price of almost all packaged foods such as condensed milk, chocolates, noodles, almonds, jams, soya milk products etc, as the tax rate that ranges between 12 per cent-18 per cent is lowered to 5 per cent from September 22.
Even the price of consumer appliances such as refrigerator, washing machine, TV, among others will come down with the GST rate cut to 18 per cent from 28 per cent. On the automobile front, the prices of entry level cars are set to decrease by approximately Rs 30,000- 40,000 for small cars and about a lakh for large cars.
Goa’s GST tax payers are steadily increasing. The state had 28,000 GST-registered business establishments in 2017, when the unified tax was first introduced and it is now approximately 45,000 dealers. Each month about 200 new tax payers on-board the GSTN portal, while about 50 drop out due to reasons such as closure of businesses, etc.
