Saving For a Space Ship Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) High Street retailers to call for “online sales tax” http://tamebay.com/2013/06/high-street-retailers-to-call-for-online-sales-tax.html ......The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is reportedly researching a proposal for government that will call for a new tax to be levied on online traders. The BRC is said to think that online traders are at an advantage because they don’t have to pay any of the £7bn that bricks and mortar stores do in business rates for their High Street presence. Among the supporters of the plan are Justin King, chief of Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s. No details of the exact proposal are yet available. In particular, there is nothing to explain how “bricks and clicks” businesses (with both an online business and a physical outlet) will be affected. The founders of Sofa.com have already hit out at the plans in a letter to the Chief Secretary of the Treasury, Danny Alexander saying that a tax on online retail would be “bad for consumers, business, and the UK”. Pat Reeves and Rohan Blacker said: “A tax, if imposed, could be a barrier to entrepreneurship, negatively impact small business, reduce consumer choice and hit at the heart of the UK’s world-leading online retail industry.” We agree. Let’s be clear. Such a tax would be nothing but protectionism for businesses who have failed to innovate. Retail has changed dramatically in the past fifteen years or so and those who are complaining are likely the ones who have failed to adapt to the brave new world of ecommerce. It’s not as if trading online has come out of nowhere all of a sudden. Some High Street retailers, notably Argos and John Lewis, have surfed the trend and see ecommerce as an opportunity, not a threat. The idea is also based on a false premise that betrays the primitive view of ecommerce that the crusty old British Retail Consortium clearly holds. Plenty of ecommerce businesses have premises, pay business rates and corporation tax just like High Street chains...... Edited June 21, 2013 by Saving For a Space Ship Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easy2012 Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 High Street retailers to call for “online sales tax” .... but protectionism for businesses ... http://tamebay.com/2013/06/high-street-retailers-to-call-for-online-sales-tax.html Exactly... there is already a VAT that applies to all. Time to ask for a tax cut from landlords I suppose... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoony Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 A few words to these idiots dreaming up this tax. No bloody way. Get stuffed. What a bloody stupid idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trampa501 Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Wasn't there a call for a text message tax a while back? Not really feasible now folk have access to the web with their smart phones.. Pity there can't be a 1p or 2p tax per minute on a mobile call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zugzwang Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) And when they're done taxing online sales they can start taxing online betting... help keep the One Percenters' seats upholstered in Covent Garden. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/tax/10133458/Lord-Puttnam-tax-online-gambling-to-fund-the-arts.html The film producer and Labour peer [David Puttnam] said the UK is in "desperate need" of cultural skills and talent, and taking advantage of the boom in placing bets via the internet could aid the industry. "We will need to find new ways to help support the arts," Lord Puttnam wrote in the Yorkshire Post. "As many of you will be aware, there is enormous growth in the gambling industry, particularly online gambling, perhaps even, to some extent, displacing money spent on our National Lottery. "I would like to think that the proceeds of a point of consumption tax on online gambling could, for example, be used to supplement the nation's investment in arts, sport and culture." Edited June 21, 2013 by zugzwang Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 So the answer for one sector over burdened with taxes is to tax another area..... Amusing that they aren't calling for a cut in business rates etc... to make the high street more competitive and keep shops open. Why not call for mobs to go around smashing up people goods every other year so that they are forced to buy a new TV, washing machine etc... That would help to boost trade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travisher Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 What a bunch of rent seekers! Its the same attitude I used to encounter as a market trader. Shop owners wanted to prevent us selling stuff in the town because we 'unfairly competed' with them. Actually, market day was always the busiest day of the week in the shops - we gave a reason for people to make a trip into town. The BRC need to realize nobody owes them a living, least of all those that choose to buy and sell on the Internet. Imagine the state of the economy if we didn't have Internet trading in this country. Over 30% of UK trade is done on the Internet. So these dipsticks want to strangle off the main economic growth engine of the UK. Brilliant plan guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plummet expert Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 High Street retailers to call for “online sales tax” http://tamebay.com/2013/06/high-street-retailers-to-call-for-online-sales-tax.html I think this is the dinosaur complaining that he can't keep up with the Cheetah. Any business that can do online business should get on and do it themselves and stop this protective attitude ...it' the e-retailing change of our time- that's that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TheBlueCat Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I think people that work from home should have to pay a special income tax levy so as to put them on a par with the rest of us who have to cover the costs of travelling to an office and wearing clothes. Well, obviously I don't think that, but it's the exact same reasoning these rent seeking t0ssers are using. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Blizzard) Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 A business that isn't paying rent to a landlord? Ban it immediately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bemusedmover Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 A few words to these idiots dreaming up this tax. No bloody way. Get stuffed. What a bloody stupid idea! Ok - I lost my job because the 1.5million turnover company I worked for for over 20 years could not compete with the net so what you may say.... so how come we could not buy stock from anyone or anywhere cheaper than the online crowd were actually delivering it to the customer on a nationwide basis for???? we were a big player and obtained major discounts direct from the manufacturer but still could not compete with the net we know that the trading advantage could only be because our competitors were not uk based as far as tax was concerned ..........enjoy buying from the net while you can because soon there will be no high street left (Oh and then prices WILL rocket) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RufflesTheGuineaPig Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Ok - I lost my job because the 1.5million turnover company I worked for for over 20 years could not compete with the netso what you may say.... so how come we could not buy stock from anyone or anywhere cheaper than the online crowd were actually delivering it to the customer on a nationwide basis for???? we were a big player and obtained major discounts direct from the manufacturer but still could not compete with the net we know that the trading advantage could only be because our competitors were not uk based as far as tax was concerned Selling online and being a tax avoider are totally unrelated. Your employers problem was that their costs were too high. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 ...why don't they just tax all competition and kill all trade dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Sacks Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 High Street retailers to call for “online sales tax” http://tamebay.com/2013/06/high-street-retailers-to-call-for-online-sales-tax.html They do and I'll be one of many online retailers on the dole. Tossers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Sacks Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 :angry: :angry: :angry: (buries face in pillow and screams for two minutes) FFS! My business wouldn't work in a shop, It's niece market. The only reason it's viable is the low overheads and international exposure the internet provides. Yeah, tax me out of the market. Let's have everyone driving into town burning all that lovely fossil fuel. I thought there was a thing called "global warming", no? Oh, so that's BS too, just another tax creation scheme. This is such a blatant example of the rich and powerful trying to protect their interest at the expense of the working man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swissy_fit Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 (edited) Not such a terrible idea if implemented properly, but very difficult to do fairly. Google and Amazon and the like need to be made to pay something to operate in the UK market, they're clearly never going to get agreement on international taxes, some little tax haven will always be touting for a bit of their cash. Trouble is, these online retailers are so agile. I was going to suggest the tax be based on a minimum turnover in the UK and be proportionally higher according to the ratio of corporation tax paid/turnover in the previous year, this would hit Amazon and the like but not the little traders. But Amazon would probably just split into 10,000 little subsidiaries for each category to avoid this. Edit : Maybe a licence to operate in the UK online market would work better. Small for little guys, big for the monsters, proportionately increasing with online turnover. Turnover measured by purchases made from UK ip addresses, purchases from proxies etc banned? Edited June 21, 2013 by swissy_fit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porca misèria Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 It's niece market. Do you have a catalogue? Any chance of try-before-you-buy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen_out Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 ...why don't they just tax all competition and kill all trade dead. Good idea, let's tax everyone into oblivion then we can all live on benefits. What could go wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easy2012 Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Wasn't there a call for a text message tax a while back? Not really feasible now folk have access to the web with their smart phones.. Pity there can't be a 1p or 2p tax per minute on a mobile call. The tax is there but it is stealth and it is hard to see. The huge cost of the spectrum auction in 2000 was embedded in the mobile phone charges and I think Ofcom estimated that cost about 3p/min. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easy2012 Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Ok - I lost my job because the 1.5million turnover company I worked for for over 20 years could not compete with the net so what you may say.... so how come we could not buy stock from anyone or anywhere cheaper than the online crowd were actually delivering it to the customer on a nationwide basis for???? we were a big player and obtained major discounts direct from the manufacturer but still could not compete with the net we know that the trading advantage could only be because our competitors were not uk based as far as tax was concerned ..........enjoy buying from the net while you can because soon there will be no high street left (Oh and then prices WILL rocket) I am pretty sure highstreet shops who do not have to pay for deliveries are more competitive then the online shops in many areas if the rent had been closer to zero. Embedded rents are likely to be 20%+ of the prices of any item bought on the high streets (that is on top of 20% VAT and business rates). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Loo Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 any business that needs staff and stock will have some bricks and mortar somewhere in the cost mix. Just because you buy on line, doesnt mean the goods came from a back bedroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 There's a tax on online purchases. It's called postage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurker07 Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 It's funny. I thought taxes were originally intended to fund something in the public interest. Where did it all go wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuggets Mahoney Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 (edited) ..........enjoy buying from the net while you can because soon there will be no high street left Actually, there's a good chance people will continue buying on the net even after the high street dies on its rear end. Fair dos afaic. Most high streets are an unpleasant, costly, corporatised experience, best avoided except at times of dire necessity. And now some of the interests which helped make high streets an unpleasant, costly, corporatised experience are looking to extract tithes from the traders and customers who've escaped their clutches? Stuff that Edited June 22, 2013 by Nuggets Mahoney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Preacherman Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 The answer is not a new tax on direct internet retail but business rates reform. Out of town stores and warehousing needs to pay more and the High Street less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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