WE’LL HAMMER AMAZON
Tories pledge tax war on web giants as Mike Ashley buys House of Fraser for £90m
THE Government finally vowed to make web giants such as Amazon pay a “fair” tax – after House of Fraser nearly went bust.
In a big victory for the Daily Mirror’s High Street Fightback battle, Chancellor Philip Hammond promised to “rebalance the playing field” for shops.
House of Fraser was bought by Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct for £90million
after it became the latest in a string of big names to face difficulties as web giants take over the retail sector.
And – faced with criticism over the Government’s lack of action – Mr Hammond said he was considering a special tax on online retailers.
He told Sky News: “We want to ensure that taxation is fair between businesses doing business in the traditional way and those doing business online.”
He hinted the UK would go it alone if it failed to get global backing for the clampdown on multinationals such as Amazon.
“If we can’t get international agreement, we may have to look at temporary measures to rebalance the playing field,” he said.
The Daily Mirror’s High Street Fightback campaign has been crying out for fairer treatment of UK shops.
Among our 10 demands is a new tax on online sales, with money collected going to the wider retail sector.
Amazon’s biggest UK firm, Amazon UK Services, paid £4.6million in corporation tax last year, its lowest since 2012, despite its profits tripling and UK sales soaring by a quarter to £8.8billion.
But House of Fraser’s business rates store bill leapt by 15% – nearly £4million – to £30.2million this year.
Homebase, Poundworld, Toys R Us, Maplin, Mothercare, Carpetright and New Look have all been hit.
Robert Hayton, of consultants Altus, said: “We are pleased the Chancellor is considering a sales tax for pure play online retailers.
“Our high streets desperately need support. Revenue would have to be ring-fenced for reinvestment in our high streets.”