HM Treasury has released a consultation on whether the UK should implement an Online Sales Tax (OST). No decision on an OST has yet been made, and the Government wants to hear business’s views as these will help shape the final outcome. An OST, if adopted, would not be a revenue raiser but would instead rebalance the tax system by funding business rates relief in England for the retail sector and fund the block grants of the devolved administrations in the usual way. It is fair to say that it would not be straightforward as many questions would need to be answered around its form, rate and scope and even the basic point of defining an online sale, given the range of ordering, payment, collection and delivery options that are available to the online shopper. The consultation will run until 10am on 20 May 2022. We very much encourage affected businesses to take this opportunity to respond.
Source KPMG
