BRITS face a brand new tax on products from shopping sites like Amazon and Ebay to save the high street from death.
Ministers tonight launched plans for an Online Sales Tax to claw in more cash from ultra-rich internet giants.
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All money raised would be used to cut crippling business rates for physical shops in ailing town centres.
The Treasury, which is not yet set on whether to press ahead with the fresh tax, yesterday formally started weighing up the pros and cons.
But there are already fears customers could be smacked with higher product prices if sites like Amazon offload the extra cost.
A three-month consultation that opened today will hear from bosses and shoppers before ministers decide whether to give it the green light.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury Lucy Frazer made it her mission to see “high streets thriving” by creating a more even playing field with internet shopping.
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She said last night: “Whilst we’ve made no decision on whether to introduce such a tax, it’s right that, given the growing consumer trend to shop online, we work with stakeholders to assess the appropriate taxation of the retail sector.”
The tech boom and lockdown have starved in-store retailers of customers and left them struggling to stay afloat.
Bosses have been demanding ministers address the imbalance with websites immune to pricey business rates.
Last year online sales comprised 26 per cent of total shopping in the UK, jumping during the pandemic from just 19 per cent in 2019.
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