Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said today that the Government should not 'penalise' one of Britain's few growth sectors by heaping taxes upon it.
In the latest round of the online tax spat, Steiner admitted that he and his new business partner Morrisons were in disagreement over the subject. But he said the idea of taxing a growth sector is 'foolish' and suggested that the argument has become confused by drawing in Amazon.
He told the Mail on Sunday: 'There is clearly a debate to be had in Government over large multinationals and the amount of tax they pay. But its not an online-offline debate. Amazon has been used as an example of an online retailer that should pay more tax but Starbucks has also been talked about and it has hundreds of stores in the UK.'
He said Amazon is being 'incorrectly used' as an example of an online retailer that does not pay the same level of tax as UK-based firms in order 'to penalise a growth sector'.
He said 'Why online? Why not big, out-of-town stores?'
He said he and his new business partners at Morrisons did not share the same views on tax. But he said they 'did not have to' share the same views on everything.
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