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Asos, Currys, and Gymshark urge government to reject online sales tax

// A group of 11 retailers and industry groups have urged Chancellor Rishi Sunak to reject proposals to bring in an online sales tax
// The retailers argue that retailers will be forced to pass the cost increases onto consumers which could exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis

Retailers including Currys, Asos, The Very Group and Gymshark are among the major firms that written to Chancellor Rishi Sunak urging him to reject proposals for an online sales tax (OST).

In a joint letter to the Chancellor, 11 retailers and industry groups, including AO.com, Gymshark, Ocado, eBay and Made.com, said the levy amounted to a “shopping tax” and would worsen the cost-of-living crisis”, The Telegraph reported.

The firms wrote: “We believe an OST would…hurt – not help – the high street, and stifle retail innovation and investment. The burden of business rates on retail is too high and needs reforming, but an additional tax on a sector that is already overtaxed is not the answer.”

READ MORE: Should the government bring in an online sales tax?

“Retailers would have little choice but to pass on an OST to consumers in the form of higher prices thereby fuelling inflation. The burden “is likely to fall heaviest” on groups including “people on lower incomes”.

The letter has been sent following the close of a consultation into the online sales tax, which the government suggested could correct the imbalance between online retailers and their counterparts on the high street.

It is thought introducing an online sales tax would pave the way to the government to cut business rates.

The proposal has divided retail. Last week, M&S outgoing boss Steve Rowe said that retailers would “cut their cloth accordingly” if they were faced with another tax and this would likely mean cutting investment in stores for multichannel retailers.
However, Sainsbury’s CFO Kevin O’Byrne urged the government to adopt the online sales tax to fund reform in business rates, which he said was “destroying high streets up and down the country”.
The government is yet to make a decision about whether to push ahead and introduce the online sales tax.

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The post Asos, Currys, and Gymshark urge government to reject online sales tax appeared first on Retail Gazette.



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