In the UK, the Guardian reports that Tesco CEO Dave Lewis has called for what is being described as an “Amazon tax” on products sold online.
According to the story, “The boss of the UK’s largest retailer said the chancellor, Philip Hammond, should impose a 2% charge on goods sold online and said the failure to tax digital firms properly was now an ‘industry’ issue.”
Lewis, the story says, “said traditional retailers are caught in a stranglehold of rising costs, taxes, higher wages and competition from aggressive online firms.”
According to the story, “The boss of the UK’s largest retailer said the chancellor, Philip Hammond, should impose a 2% charge on goods sold online and said the failure to tax digital firms properly was now an ‘industry’ issue.”
Lewis, the story says, “said traditional retailers are caught in a stranglehold of rising costs, taxes, higher wages and competition from aggressive online firms.”
- KC's View:
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Really? Give me a break.
Good thing for Tesco that nobody called for a “Tesco tax” when it was building all those supercenters that were having an enormous impact on High Street businesses all over the UK.
Isn’t it Tesco’s job to compete, not call for targeted taxes on companies that are having a negative impact on it?
I have no problem with online businesses being taxed the same way as bricks-and-mortar businesses. But this strikes me as a crock.
They get this, and the next thing Tesco will be looking for is an “Aldi/Lidl tax.”
