Labour looking at plans to tax online retailers

THE Labour Party is looking at plans for a tax on online retailers as part of its proposals to support the British high street, the Shadow Business Secretary has said.

Rebecca Long-Bailey said the party was considering available options to create a fairer tax landscape between online and physical retailers.

The MP for Salford and Eccles said the issue was “a very difficult circle to square” as some high street retailers also have an online presence.

“It’s not a case of black and white, ‘right, well, let’s tax online and give tax reliefs to high street retailers’, because I don’t think that’s fair either and that’s why there’s been such a long discussion in Parliament about the best way forward for this,” she added.

When asked about tax changes for digital retailers, she said Labour was “looking at it” along with other options.

Ms Long-Bailey has previously warned that there is a need to “stop the onslaught of store closures and job losses on the high street”.

In 2018 the retail sector was beset by several high-profile administrations and store closure programmes. House of Fraser, ToysRUs and Maplin were among the chains to collapse, with Homebase, New Look and a host of casual dining firms closing scores of outlets.

A report on the British high street published by PwC in November said the sector had weathered the most testing retail and leisure climate in five years as the gap between store openings and closures widened.

A net 1,123 stores disappeared from Britain’s top 500 high streets in the first half of 2018 as only 1,569 shops opened. Retailers have previously blamed business rates as playing a part in the demise of some businesses.

Several retail chiefs have called for a level playing field between bricks and mortar firms and online giants such as Amazon in terms of tax. The Yorkshire Post has campaigned for more support for beleaguered high street shops.