The survey followed the government’s announcement of a consultation on an online sales tax policy on 25 February, part of an ongoing engagement with the industry which is due to close on May 22 this year.

This consultation has grown from calls from the retail and rating industry for a fairer retail playing field and a tax system that does not penalise high street retailers, who pay business rates on their physical stores, whereas purely online rivals do not.

High business rates on the retail sector have been cited as one of the key components for shop failures and the decline of the high street in recent years.

Vote for an online sales tax was most supported by retail landlords and investors with 98 per cent agreeing with the tax. But even 71 per cent of retailers, who already have an online presence, supported the new tax and unsurprisingly 100 per cent of those who don’t have an online presence support it too.

The survey also asked whether ‘click and collect’ (where items are sold online but the high street retailer has a role in delivering them to the consumer) should be subject to online sales tax and here opinions were more divided with 54 per cent of those surveyed saying yes and 46 per cent saying no, Colliers said in a press release.

Interestingly, taxing click and collect products was supported by a higher percentage of high street retailers (57 per cent) who also have an online presence, than retail landlords (55 per cent).

Colliers also asked what products or size of retailer should be exempt from the online sales tax, or pay a reduced amount. Seventy-one per cent of those surveyed put essential items into the bracket of exempt or a reduced tax, 66 per cent said small retailers, 55 per cent said web-based apps in stores and 52 per cent said digital products.

However only 31 per cent said sale by emails should be exempt or pay a reduced tax, with 69 per cent saying these products should pay online sales tax.

Not everyone agreed with the introduction of a new online sales tax and of those 11 per cent not in favour some cited that retailers need less taxation rather than more and a scepticism that the new tax would in fact be used to reduce the business rates burden.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)