Digital Services Tax To Be Extended To Online Retailers

High streets minister, Jake Berry, has said that the UK government's Digital Services Tax will be extended to add a 2% fee to online retailers if an international agreement cannot be reached.

He made the comments in the House of Commons during a discussion about the Future High Streets Fund, last week.  

He said: “The government have been clear that online taxation in retail needs to be done as part of an international agreement, but we have also been clear that, if we cannot get such an agreement, we will come forward with our own 2% tax on online retail to ensure that we can continue, as we did in the last Budget, to give relief to those retailing on our high streets.”

He added: “This year we have already slashed a third off business rates of shops with a rateable value of under £51,000.” 

The Digital Services Tax was announced in the autumn Budget and was swiftly nicknamed the 'Amazon Tax', as it required online marketplaces to pay a 2% platform fee on UK revenue.  At the time, online retailers were not affected by the proposed tax.

Source : Insight DIY Team 

For all the very latest news and intelligence on the UK's largest home improvement and garden retailers, sign up for the Insight DIY weekly newsletter.