Finance minister Rishi Sunak has said that he is exploring new ways to tax online retail giants like Amazon, including securing international agreement on taxing the profits of multinational corporations.

Online retailers breathed a sigh of relief last Wednesday when there was no mention of an online sales tax in Sunak’s spring Budget.

But a few days later the UK chancellor told The Sun on Sunday that one of his priorities in the G7 this year is to get “international agreement on a new way to tax these companies.”

“I spend a lot of time talking to my finance minister colleagues around the world about this,” he said.

Although the government was able to enforce a two per cent digital services tax on BigTech companies last year, taxing the profits of retail giants like Amazon requires international agreement.

That’s because the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) manages treaties on how multinational businesses are taxed.

A source at the Treasury told The Sunday Telegraph:“The US has now signalled an openness to engage constructively in the debate and try to reach resolution which is really positive.”

They said that Sunak had already spoken to US secretary of the Treasurey Janet Yellen on the matter.

Share Story: