Online sales tax: what is all the fuss about?

HM Treasury first floated the idea of an online sales tax (OST) back in 2020 to potentially fund business rates reforms for retailers. As a head of tax of a purely online retailer it probably won’t come as a surprise that I am opposed to the idea. The actual practicalities of implementation and ongoing compliance should not be underestimated and I believe that the government already has the fiscal tools needed to raise revenues to fund business rate reforms without adding further complexity and tax compliance burden to the retail sector.

HM Treasury has said that no decision has been made on whether or not to introduce an OST. However it’s clearly looking closely at this as its second consultation (opened in February 2022) requested feedback on what an...