‘Amazon tax’ will help revive high streets vows Labour amid fears online shoppers will face higher prices
ONLINE retail giants must pay up to revive Britain’s dying high streets, the tax minister has declared.
James Murray told The Sun it is fair to whack up levies on companies such as Amazon to fund business rate cuts for their smaller rivals.
From April 2026 a new tax on large distribution warehouses will be used to partly fund permanent lower rates for more than 23,000 pubs and 21,000 restaurants as well as retail and leisure businesses.
Critics fear the so-called Amazon tax will be passed on to online customers.
But Mr Murray said: “Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses make up the backbone of high streets across the country.
“I know from talking to businesses how frustrated so many high street shops have been by the system of business rates, which puts an unfair burden on them.
“We want to level the playing field.”
Mr Murray, the minister responsible for the tax system, also backed the rise in the Budget in employers’ national insurance contributions, which many fear will hit small businesses.
He said: “This was a Budget which took some big difficult decisions.”