Ahead of a tipped October 1 rise in GST, probably to be announced in today's Budget, the retailers are facing a scuttle to get new price tags on their imported goods.

Assets like clothing, footwear and gift products, which are traded in by important big chains, are price-marked at the factories. Chief Executive of The Retailers Association, John Albertson, said, "It is critically important for the industry that sufficient lead time is given so that pricing changes can be made".

The earliest that the store owners could cope with the change was that the implementation in the rise would be from October 1, whereas, the ideal, according to the association, would by April 1 of the next year.

The GST rise wouldn't be the only bullet shot; it'll be very well accompanied by personal tax cuts. Also, the impact on sales is unlikely to be huge, based on the past experience. When in 1989, the GST rose from 10% to 12.5%, then there wasn't any noteworthy effect on sales.

Now the stores, in response to this, will sell the goods that are in strong competition at prices lower than the existing, such as $99.99, but put up others by more than 2.5%.

In addition to this, the GST cost hike will also produce compliance costs for businesses in altering their paper-based or electronic systems. BDO said, "This could be time consuming and expensive if system changes are required, or if training is required to minimize error risk".