City bakers have said that rolling out of Goods and Services Tax from July 1 will see the tax on local bakery items going up from the present five per cent to 18 per cent.
It will be an additional burden on consumers, considering that GST is projected to raise costs 5 to 10 per cent, said P. M. Shankaran, president of the Bakers’ Association of Kerala, on Tuesday.
The bakers held a workshop here on Tuesday to discuss the impact of the new tax regime on their business, he said and pointed out that small bakeries would bear the brunt of the GST burden as the tax rate for large multinationals would come down from the present 20.5 per cent to 18 per cent. Mr. Shankaran said that the issue of high tax on local bakers should be taken up by political parties to bring it to the attention of the authorities.
Meanwhile, bakers in Kerala plan to float a nation-wide organisation for local bakers to create awareness about the GST impact on their business.
