Retail CEO calls for 20% tax on online sales
03/12/2018
Mr Ashley appeared before a parliamentary committee on December 3 and presented his idea as a way of saving the High Street. He said that, in many towns and cities, the High Street is “already dead”. But he said other places could keep their main in-town shopping areas open by taxing retailers who, through online sales, are avoiding local and national taxes.
He admitted that the suggestion may not go down too well with fellow directors at his own group, which he told committee members now has online sales of around £400 million per year.
In his comments, Mr Ashley also made it clear he thought the 20% tax should apply to pure-play online retailers and to the online sales of clicks-and-bricks companies like his. He argued that any company generating more than 20% of sales online should pay the 20% online sales tax and said this would be a way of persuading retail companies to invest in town centres again.
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