Would you pay an on-line shopping tax to save local retail shopping?

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In Germany they are bringing in an online tax to bail out retail shopping.

www.dw.com/en/german-mps-propose-online-shopping-tax-to-save-city-centers/a-56001395

As a retailer I have felt unfairly disadvantaged to online sellers who pay no business rates which the Government collects from shops; online selling fees go abroad to multinational corporations whereas our shop rents are paid to mainly local UK business owners.
Would people be willing to pay a bit more online to save high street shopping from disappearing & have much of it converted into housing?
The amount collected by the Gov in business rates is billions and there will be a huge drop in their tax income if high street retailers disappear.

YABU - Would not support a tax

YANBU- Would support a tax

I'm not sure. I do think the Government needs to sort the disparity between business rates for actual stores which means online stores have a significant advantage.

If I don't shop online, then I have to drive, and pay parking. Normally, not an issue, as I'll combine shopping, lunch, the library and a potch around to make it worth my while in the local market town.

Online, direct from manufacturers is convenient for pet food; and my veg/bread/milk shop is delivered free by the local food hub, who already mark up some of the products to cover their costs. As it supports very local growers and producers, I don't mind, but should the prices go up too much, then it will back to the supermarkets for those things.

I think the landlords of the High Street have to be careful here. My hairdresser has closed her salon, and has set up at home instead; she has no more rent payments from February, and no high business rates either. She is very happy. However, that's another shop that is empty, and will probably turn into a bookies or yet another charity shop.

I wouldn't.
Its cheaper to buy online, to park locally it costs about 4 pounds an hour.

I'd be keener on the big online giants like Amazon being properly pursued for all the tax they don't pay.

They can’t be pursued for something that they are not required to pay. It’s the law that needs changing. Amazon aren’t doing anything illegal.

I’m in my 20s so pretty much grew up with online shopping. It’s a staple part of life for me and will continue to be for the following generations. The world has changed and to survive, you need to adapt.

The business tax might get you slightly more footfall in your shop to begin with, but unfortunately it will just be delaying the inevitable...If major stores like TOPSHOP Oxford Street (which was Arcadia’s top grossing store) have permanently closed, what makes you so sure that you’ll survive without adapting to the online market?

In London shopping at the high street can be expensive with guaranteed parking charges and ulez or congestion fees. Public transport isn’t much cheaper. In more rural areas, it can be even more difficult to visit a high street and unfair for them to be taxed extra when they don’t have another option but to shop online.

No, but I would be pro a change in business rates, maybe by floor area not rent, so an amazon warehouse pays loads a small shop very little.

Maybe also make online delivery and returns free so that they have increased costs that you don't that benefit the consumer. But really I think the focus needs to be shops adapting and landlords dropping rents.

@MaskingForIt

I'd be keener on the big online giants like Amazon being properly pursued for all the tax they don't pay.

They can’t be pursued for something that they are not required to pay. It’s the law that needs changing. Amazon aren’t doing anything illegal.

Quite!

Pursue MPs

Yes, absolutely.
I suppose it's one way of getting some tax out of Amazon (not that I shop on Amazon).

@Vitaminsss

In the kindest way possible, we are in the digital age and have been for over a decade. You have had ample time to market yourself online. If you insist on being a dinosaur, the possible failure of your business is your own fault for not adapting to the changing market

Yep, life has moved on. The High Street isn’t relevant to how we live in the 21st century.

It’s like the Luddites breaking machines to stop people losing their jobs through modernisation.

And most high street shops are crap, over-priced and with limited choices.

Absolutely not

No. LA rent reductions and tax breaks for independents. Agree with parking - either reduce prices or offers for public transport (in our city we used to offer £2 day passes if visiting an attraction).

Chain shops have their own part to play too. Debenhams’ fate was sealed when they didn’t adapt and reinvent their brand to a modern audience. Our local store has been unorganised, bland and very meh for so long whereas JL has a clean layout, the best displays near the front and premium brands.

Don’t penalise shoppers for doing exactly as they’ve been asked to do.

I have a shop (rented), so I pay business rates.
I dont know if non shop renters know this, but in general business rates are 50% of what they guess your rent to be. They don't even collect your bins for that, at least the council where I am doesn't.

I think the government could look at different ways to gather business rates other than just a percentage of estimated rent based on where your shop is, with no regard to profit/turnover.
They need to look at changing the rates for industrial estate type locations and warehouses if they want to increase their revenue in the future.

Around my way it some high street units that have laid empty have had a change of usage and been turned back into residential so rates are no longer payable.

I don't think it should be a tax paid directly by the consumer.

No, but I'd love reform on taxing internet giants and the charging of business rates and parking by local councils (probably because they are trying to make up for lack of central funding...)

No - the chains like M&S even pre pandemic have forced us online thanks to their woeful stock levels and actively encouraged online shopping.

If the money went only to small independents with fewer than 20 outlets then maybe.

No because where I live most shop people are rude and sullen and customer service is non existent (it's not the uk and I really miss British customer service!) but I would pay higher prices and stay loyal to a shop if the service was better, or if I know someone could get commission I often go in person to the shop.

I wouldn’t support this at all, I try to support local independent shops but it already costs significantly more to use them than Amazon. I wouldn’t bother making the effort to support them in person if I were already doing it with the things I have to get online. The little local shops, while usually lovely, get their ‘tax’ through their inflated prices, so the people that want to use and maintain their services can pay for them.

No, definitely not.
People on low income would be forced closer to poverty.
Why single out a tax to just aid one industry? Or do we put tax on shop bought alcohol to bail out pubs... where does it end.
Shops need to move with the times or say so long.

No, I wouldn't support this

No. This kind of thing is usually suggested by those who live in larger towns/cities. Also forgets older people or those with a disability for whom on-line shopping makes a bit difference- why should they pay more?

We live rurally and often cannot get things locally, so rely on being able to order online. Local shops are mostly small, even if it is a national retailer (and then carry a very limited range). It’s a pain traipsing into town, knowing you are probably not going to get what you are looking for- you could ask for shop to order it in but that takes longer and then I would often have to go back into town. That is 2 trips in the car (with associated petrol costs) and parking costs to get an item. Or I could just order online and have it delivered. I already pay extra delivery cost due to where we live. I would absolutely resent paying another tax.

I would ageee that companies like Amazon should be forced to pay the appropriate amount of tax, rather than the “legal dodge” they currently enjoy.

I think when this is all over, towns should do something about the extortionate, greedy parking charges to go into towns and cities. I would be much more inclined to go and spend money if parking didn't cost £15 for a few hours.

Not a chance online is far more convenient if the high street want my custom they need to offer me the same or more. There is nothing I cant get on the high street online and that way theres no expensive parking, no getting hot in the shops then cold outside, no worries if they havent got your size.
The high street definitely needs to change to keep up but by doing what I dont know

No, being disabled already costs enough without adding costs to online shopping.

Business rates raise approximately £25 billion in England each year, and so my main point is that by moving online most of the savings you get are partly because they are not paying this cost.
The 25 billion pays for a lot of services we all use.
It will have to be recouped somewhere if a third of retail disappear after the crisis is over.
There should be a way to distribute tax more fairly to include online, to level the playing field before all the retail shops disappear and we are left as a country are left with a lot less revenue.

No. We should be encouraging online shopping surely to stop people mixing. Many seem to be using open shops as a social activity currently.

Agree with @YouLikeTheBadOnesToo. Online shopping isn't "that" evil.
In addition to your points about those who struggle to a physical location, I have friends who have managed to set up a business online - which would have been impossible with brick and mortar. They weren't able or willing to get financing, nor did they have a reserve of money, support, or parents bankrolling it which is what the only physical shop owner I know did!

I love shops. But the internet opens up a world to a lot more people in terms of not just customers but business owners too.