Tesco has urged the government to impose a 2% online sales tax to help pay for a cut in business rates for shops, saying the current system is unfair and is damaging communities across the UK.
In written evidence to a Treasury select committee investigation, the UK’s largest retailer – which pays about £700m a year in business rates, making it one of the biggest payers of the property-based tax – has made detailed proposals for a shake-up of the system, which has been partly blamed for the problems facing high street shops.
The supermarket suggests the government could raise £1.5bn via an online sales levy of 2% on physical goods, as defined by existing VAT regulations.
