Recommendation 29

We support the principle of an online sales tax and welcome the consultation. We particularly welcome that revenue from an online sales tax would be used to reduce business rates for retailers. The Government should provide clear timescales for the consultation. Since the future of retail is multichannel due to changing consumer habits, it is particularly important that an online sales tax does not penalise retailers that have both an online and bricks-and-mortar presence. We look forward to further detail on the scope of the consultation, which we recommend must consider: • the impact on multichannel retailers; • the scope of the tax, including which sectors it will be levied on (such as groceries and holidays) and whether it will apply to Click and Collect; • how revenue will offset business rates for retailers in a meaningful way and on a permanent basis; • how the tax may sit alongside work by the OECD to develop a consensus solution to the tax challenges of digitalisation; and • the impact on local authority income.