Next's Boss Slams Calls For An Online Tax

Groups opposing calls for an online tax in the UK have found a champion in the form of Next's chief executive Simon Wollfson.

Wolfson operates a chain of more than 500 shops and has a Directory business that brings in more than £1 billion sales a year, an rising, almost a third of the group's turnover. It could be argued that gives him as balanced a view as you are going to get in the retailer sector.

Wolfson told The Mail on Sunday yesterday that supermarket call for an online tax were 'protectionist,' would most likely lead to prices rises for consumers and were unlikely ever to be traded in for a cut in business rates - as has been suggested by proponents of the online tax.

Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King, Morrisons chief executive Dalton Philips and Sir Terry Leahy, who previously held the same position at Tesco, have all called for a reform of the tax regime to rebalance business rates and impose and tax on sales over the internet.

Wolfson, a prominent Conservative peer and a former business and economic adviser to the party, told thje newspaper: 'It seems to me that the motivation is to stop intenet retailers growing rather than to help the high street.'

'It's a protectionist argument that says 'please tax my competitor to give me an advantage. For a country that is at the forefront of the internet revolution it would be an extremely backward step,' he said.