Deadline for Selling Pre-GST Goods Extended to December 31

New Delhi: The government has extended the deadline for sale of pre-GST goods with stickers of revised rates by three months to December 31, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Friday.

This will come as a relief to traders who are still saddled with a high stock of old inventory. The GST came into being on July 1 and stock till that date was taxed under excise and service taxes, among others.

The decision came after several companies and retailers body CAIT highlighted that they are still left with huge unsold stocks of pre-GST goods and need more time to clear that.

After implementing GST from July 1, the government had allowed the use of stickers with revised rates, alongside the printed MRP for pre-packaged items to reflect changes in selling price for three months till September 30.

The unsold items had an MRP which included all taxes of pre-GST era but with the implementation of the new regime, some of the final retail prices have undergone change due to increase or decrease in tax incidence.

"On packaged commodities, an industry can display revised MRP due to GST implementation using sticker/ stamping/online printing up to December 31, 2017", Consumer Affairs, Food, and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan tweeted.

A senior consumer affairs ministry official said the deadline has been extended following demand from several companies like Wipro, HPL and other non-food companies.

Since food items have an expiry date for consumption, there were not many representations from such companies, the official added.

Traders body CAIT on Friday claimed that goods worth Rs 6 lakh crore may become redundant if the last date for using MRP-labelled old stock is not extended beyond September 30.

"The government hereby further permits the manufacturers or packers or importers of pre-packaged commodities to declare the changed retail price (MRP) on the unsold stock manufactured/packed/imported prior to July 1, 2017 after inclusion of the increased amount of tax due to GST, if any, in addition to the existing retail price (MRP), up to December 31, 2017," said a government communication.

Businesses had held discussions with consumer affairs ministry regarding unsold stocks, which took up the matter with the revenue department.