Luxury brands want PAN for Rs 1 lakh purchase to go

NEW DELHI: Retailers of expensive products like branded jewellery, watches and phones have appealed to the government against the move to make PAN mandatory for purchases worth Rs 1 lakh and above, saying it will hit their sales. Luxury retailers say they were anyway struggling to sustain their businesses in India, and any such rule will make impact the sale of expensive items and consumers will either cut down their spends or buy expensive items from abroad.

An official of the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation, an association of some 30 branded jewellery players, said it may go on a nation-wide strike if the government did not roll back the proposed move that will encourage buying and selling of expensive items through illegal means. “We are trying to establish a dialogue with the government and sort this out, else will go on a national strike against it,” said Vijay Khanna, regional chairman (North) at the federation.

Arun Jaitley during his budget speech had said PAN will be made mandatory for any purchase or sale exceedingRs 1 lakh. The manner of its implementation and its finer details are not clear yet.