Telangana: Supermarkets avoid GST bills, take old route

Hyderabad: Four days after GST, many traders are still following VAT system, leading to complaints to the commercial taxes office. A commercial tax officer’s wife was one of the complainants. After shopping at Ratnadeep Supermarket at Banjara Hills on Sunday, she was presented a bill that had the old system of taxation. According to GST rules, every trader has to mention GST in the bills, breaking it up into SGST and CGST.

If the GST on any product was 18 per cent, the bill has to reflect 9 per cent SGST and 9 per cent CGST. Some traders, particularly supermarkets, are not doing this. A senior officer in the commercial taxes department said all traders have to install software for GST billing. He said, “Supermarkets are facing an issue as they sell a variety of products and it will take them time to develop the software. In hotels and other establishments, the goods and services are fewer so it is easier to develop new software.”

An employee at Dileep Supermarket in Manikonda said they would work under the old system till the old stocks last, and switch to GST after the arrival of new stock. Principal secretary, revenue, (commercial taxes and Excise) G. Somesh Kumar said all traders should have implemented GST from July 1, whether it was old stock or new. He said there were bound to be some problems in the beginning. If the old tax system is continued, some consumers would benefit while others would lose.

Mr Kumar said department officials would start checking for GST compliance from Wednesday. He said the department had given traders three days to adjust to the new system. If any trader was found not implementing GST, the case would be taken up seriously. He said that officers of the commercial taxes department would be touring the districts from Wednesday to create awareness among the public and business people. He himself would be touring Karimnagar district.