UKH calls for online sales tax

In its response to the government’s consultation on the introduction of an online sales tax, UKHospitality has called for consideration to be given to property-based industries such as hospitality.

The trade body’s submission has also called for such a tax to be ear-marked to provide a “targeted reduction to business rates for high street businesses”.

It has said that an online sales tax “must involve exemptions for services that are ordered online but involve delivery from a physical presence that delivers that service in person, for example hotel bookings and restaurant deliveries, so as to avoid a stealth ‘double-taxation’”.

It has also called for rate reductions to be achieved via a reduced multiplier for “all relevant businesses and not focused solely on smaller businesses”.

UKHospitality chief executive, Kate Nicholls, said: “We are calling for an online sales tax to be introduced in the UK to cut business rates for high-street venues and deliver economic regeneration across the UK.

“The basis for an online sales tax must not stifle innovation and the development of online business models but must support our British high streets. This is why the Government must ensure that an online sales tax avoids double taxation for businesses that deliver products on-premise, such as pubs, restaurants and hotels.”

She added: “The taxation system has lagged way behind the changes to the modern economy and while we have long known that business rates are arcane and outdated, there is also an absence of an equitable system of justifiably bringing the digital economy into taxation.”