Although we’re still three months away from being affected by the increase in service tax, come June 1, Arun Jaitley’s Budget 2016 will soon hang like the Sword of Damocles. Love to holiday, stay in tune with the latest trends, drive a swanky car or dine and drink out? Then get set to shell out more as air tickets, branded readymade garments, smoking and eating at your favourite restaurant will cost more as the service taxes for these services have been increased from 14.5 percent to 15 percent. Here are a few reactions from the city folks on the surge in service tax.
Model Karan Medappa rues, “For me the biggest concern is air travel, something that I do the most and hence it would affect me. If I look at it from a macro point of view, it might be justified since the fuel cost is going up. I would probably move to taking a train for travelling to nearby locations like Chennai or Kerala, as the railway budget seems more favourable looking at the current scenario.
Hopefully the condition of Indian railways will get better.” Readymade garments, branded apparel costing more than Rs 1,000, gold jewellery and imported imitation jewellery will get dearer.
Vijayashree Parameswaran, Nuteez opines, “This increase will have its effect on small and medium-sized enterprises manufacturing brands priced at '1000 and more. The fast fashion brands that are priced below '999 will not be affected. As buyers are getting to be more quality conscious than price sensitive, the increase in tax will affect most fashionistas very soon.”
Our city has seen a surge of pubs and restaurants and youngsters love to explore newer dining out options. Enayet Ansari, The Minute Bistro feels, “If the tax money is used properly, we will all be happy paying that little extra to buy a new car or take a flight or indulge in bonhomie with friends over a good meal. As it is 14.5 percent is very high in Bengaluru and an increase to 15 percent will make it dearer. It’s sad that it is going on increasing every year. Those who love to dine out will continue doing so, but I feel it’s not fair to charge such a high service charge.”
Sathish Madhavan, a multinational banker, agrees, “Even though it is only a .5 percent increase, it’s still a lot more compared to other cities and will pinch all those like me who dine and drink out a lot.”
