Thursday, 25 July 2013

Net-a-Porter Throws Its Weight Behind Campaign Rejecting Calls For An Online Sales Levy

Online luxury goods retailer Net-a-Porter has confirmed its support for a campaign rejecting calls from supermarket bosses for an online sales tax.

The online retailer joins others such as Ocado, Boden, Shop Direct and N Brown who oppose Morrisons, Sainsbury's, B&Q owner Kingfisher and former Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy who have all called for the imposition of a tax to 'level the playing field' between on and offline retailers.

According to Marketing magazine Net-a-Porter chief executive Mark Sebba has confirmed his support. The magazine said he was listed as a signatory on a draft version of the letter but his name was not included in the final version because senior management were travelling in the US at the time the letter was being put together late last week.

Net-a-Porter was said to considering signing the letter in an article in a Sunday newspaper.


Earlier this month Morrison chief executive Dalton Philips said online retailers should be taxed and the money used to contribute to a cut in high street business rates claiming it was a 'moral' issue.

However, anti-online tax campaigners have suggested that supermarkets are using public ire with firms like Amazon and Google to promote the issue.

It has been suggested that they may be feeding confusion over online retailers, who mostly pay tax onshore, and those such as Amazon who avoid paying tax by using offshore company structures based in tax havens.

An open letter to the Chancellor sympathised with bricks-and-mortar retailers faced with above inflation business rate increases. But they dismissed demands for an online sales tax as 'nonsense'.



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