To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to introduce (1) a financial support mechanism, and (2) an online sales tax, for small and medium sized supply chain businesses.
Answered on
28 November 2022
As announced at Autumn Statement 2022, the Government has decided not to introduce an online sales tax. This decision reflects concerns raised about its complexity and the risk of creating unfair outcomes between different retail business models. Stakeholders also expected it would lead to higher prices for consumers.
At Autumn Statement 2022 the Government announced a package of support worth £13.6 billion to protect businesses as they transition to their new bills at the business rates revaluation. This includes a freeze to the multiplier for 2023-24, which will benefit all ratepayers, and a generous Transitional Relief scheme worth £1.6 billion over the next 3 years which will support businesses facing bill increases at the revaluation. The Government is also delivering significant reform to the system by scrapping downwards caps, which restricted falls in bills at previous revaluations. This is expected to benefit around 300,000 ratepayers who will see a full fall in their bills from 1 April 2023.
Furthermore, through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS), the Government will provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic consumers (including UK businesses, the voluntary and public sectors).
This is a temporary measure that will protect them from soaring energy costs and provide them with the certainty they need to plan through the acute crisis this winter. An HMT-led review of the EBRS will determine support for UK non-domestic energy consumers after March 2023, the results of which will be published in due course.