UK rules out proposed online sales tax

The UK has ruled out an online sales tax which aims to help struggling high street retailers, saying that it would fall foul of EU rules.

According to the Times, financial secretary to the Treasury, Mel Stride, wrote to chairwoman of the Treasury select committee, Nicky Morgan, to say there was a “high risk” that the tax would breach the bloc’s state aid rules. The letter reportedly stresses that under the draft withdrawal agreement, Britain has accepted “dynamic alignment” with Brussels on state-aid rules.

In October last year, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, unveiled a new 400 million pound 'digital service tax’ to be enforced on tech giants like Amazon who are dominating the retail scene.

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