UK retailers demand business tax reform

In the UK, the Booksellers Association (BA) has joined with more than 50 retailers in signing an open letter demanding the government take action on the business rates system, reports the Bookseller.

In an open letter to the new Chancellor Sajid Javid, the signatories, which include some of the largest retailers in Britain, call on Boris Johnson’s new government to centre business rates in the promised new economic package, noting that the ‘likelihood of a no-deal Brexit appears to be increasing’, which would place ‘a considerable strain on retailers in the UK’.

The letter highlights that retailers account for five percent of the UK economy, yet pay 25% of all business rates, and proposes a four-point economic plan.

BA managing director Meryl Halls said: ‘There is no hiding from the fact that the UK’s high street is under serious threat. With a business rates system gravely in need of reform, we sincerely hope that the new Chancellor will take heed of the retail sector’s united call for urgent change, and will take decisive action to overhaul this outdated system.’

According to British Retail Consortium sales data, July was the worst month for sales for British retailers since records began, with total sales increasing by 0.3% in July 2019, compared with a rise of 1.6% in July last year.

Category: International news