Jewellery stores empty on first full day of GST as buyers stay away

Jewellery stores remained empty on the first full day of GST (Goods and Services Tax) rollout on Monday as consumers stayed away from new orders after booking heavily last week. Robust buying during the week to June 30 pushed jewellery sales up by 50 per cent as consumers advanced their orders to avoid higher payment outgo on price increase following GST rollout effective July 1. The tax independence, as coined by the government to explain GST levy, has made gold costlier by 1-2 per cent across the country. Jewellery sales, therefore, declined by over 70 per cent on Monday due to the absence of footfalls in stores, which pulled the price of gold down by 1 per cent to hit the lowest in six-weeks on Monday. For jewellers under value added tax (VAT) earlier, gold has become costlier by 0.8 per cent as they used to pay 1.2 per cent of VAT and 1 per cent of excise duty. For jewellers outside the purview of VAT, overall duty was payable at 1 per cent in the form of excise. Now, jewellers across the board need to pay 3 per cent of duty now under the GST. Commodity Trading Tips