Shopkeepers clueless about how it works

NEW DELHI: It almost looked like an April Fool’s day surprise as shopkeepers across the city looked bewildered and had no clue how to tackle the value added tax (VAT) structure. A Times City team visited some hot spots of city retail
trade to feel the pulse of the shopkeepers on day one of VAT.
Sarojini Nagar market: People strolling around this busy market had no idea about the dilemma faced by the shopkeepers.Said Arvind Sharma, owner of a cosmetics store: "We are billing customers like before and have not increased prices of anything."
Most shopkeepers here are unaware about the new inventory system being implemented by the government. Said Bhishambar Lakhani, an electronic gadget’s showroom owner: "Even my chartered accountant is not clear about this tax. There is too much confusion and no clear guidelines have been provi-ded to us."
Few shopkeepers, who had some idea about VAT system, however claimed they were not passing the added expenses on to the consumers. Said Ramesh Mehta, owner of a watch showroom: "The increase in the prices will be marginal, from 12% to 12.5%. We have the new tax invoice but are not charging the customer anything extra. There is no price difference for our customers."
Connaught Place: The signs of protest against VAT were visible here. The trade association had passed an "order"for the closure of all shops by 2 pm and the effect was evident. Most shops were closed and ones that were open were selling products at old rates. "We have not got any information about the new prices. Only when the rates
are finalised, we will be adopting them,"said Manish Aggarwal, a garments shopkeeper.
"We have been told that the rates of items like pens and pencils will increase from 8% to 12.5%. However, we are not very sure about it. We have not got any information, hence decided to continue with the old rates,"said Usha Kapoor, a stationery shop owner.
GK I M-Block market: "The implementation of VAT may not have affected the price of jewellery much but it has definitely increased our paper work,"rued Ramesh Modi, a jeweller.
Shopkeepers here complained that they were clueless about how to levy the new VAT on their
products and a few had not even received the VAT invoice (the tax invoice circular by the govern- ment) yet.
Shopkeepers also claimed they cannot implement the new tax on the existing stock. Said Vineet Kumar, a store manager: "It is too early to comment on VAT and most retailers are not even aware of the new VAT scheme."
"How can we charge more than the MRP,"asked Agosh Malik managing a departmental store. "Stationery goods like pencils, art materials, geometry boxes which were earlier exempted from tax, have now been levied a 12.5% tax,"added Anil Satija, owner of a stationery store.