‘GST To Give 4-5% Margin Play To Restaurateurs’

The goods and services tax (GST), which has been introduced all over India from 1 July, is likely to give 4 to 5 per cent of margin play to restaurateurs, said Rahul Singh, Founder-CEO, The Beer Café, who termed the new regime as very reformative.

He was speaking at the 3rd F & B Conclave and Expo 2017 organised by BW Hotelier on Wednesday (19 July) at Aerocity, New Delhi.

During the sixth session of the event, which focused on understanding GST’s impact on hospitality industry, Saeed Shervani, Former President, Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), talked about impact of GST rates on hotels.

He said, “We took this matter two years ago, asking 12 per cent of the tax rates. The different tax slab and declaring of 28 per cent of GST on the hotels charging more than 5000, will bring down the input credit.”

Apart from Singh and Shervani, other panelists, during the session, were Sharad Sachdeva, CEO, Lite Bite Foods, and Nitin Nagrale, Vice President (Materials), Foodlink Restaurants and Catering India and President, HPMF.

During the session, Nagrale and Sachdeva spoke more about the happy side of the GST. For Nagrale, GST is good and simple tax and for Sachdeva, GST will bring in more transparency.

The discussion further went down to the involvement of Wine, Petroleum and alcohol in GST. “51 per cent of real estate is not a part of GST. This is an issue to be taken serious care of,” said Singh.

The panelist concluded by hoping in a common fact that government will take some provision for the items not included in the GST.