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If you think a new ‘Amazon tax’ will save the high street, think again

A strategy to protect and revitalise bricks and mortar shops is fair enough, but we should beware of assuming that new taxes can turn back the digital retail tide, writes Ben Chu

Tuesday 28 July 2020 13:04 BST
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The retail industry is not simply divided into digital and physical camps as so often presented
The retail industry is not simply divided into digital and physical camps as so often presented

Should Rishi Sunak combine a new digital sales tax with a reduction in business rates on bricks-and-mortar shops? It’s a beguiling package: popular, intuitively fair, simple, kills two birds with one stone. “Chancellor taxes Amazon to save the Covid-ravaged high street” would not be an unwelcome headline in Downing Street.

Unfortunately, it’s also too good to be true.

For a start, retail is not the Manichean world divided into digital and physical camps as is so often presented. There are shades of grey. Some high street retailers have significant digital sales.

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