NOW TAX AMAZON TO SAVE HIGH ST

PM urged to create ‘level playing field’

- Stephen Hayward

BUSINESS chiefs are urging Boris Johnson to hit web giants like Amazon with tough new taxes to prevent ailing shops going under.

Many firms were teetering on the brink before the pandemic hit and the high street has been losing £1.8billion a week in sales under the three-month shutdown.

With non-essential shops set to reopen tomorrow under lockdown easing, the Prime Minister was warned of the need to establish a level playing field with web giants.

The online firms undercut physical rivals and the Covid-19 crisis has forced more shoppers to use them. And experts have long slammed the high rates and rents shops face.

Amazon paid just £63million in business rates here in 2018 on reported sales of £8.8billion. By comparison, Marks & Spencer pays about £184million in rates on annual sales of £10.7billion, while Tesco pays £700million on sales of £63.9billion.