UK ready for digital tax

Britain stands ready to impose new digital services taxThe Chancellor has said that although taxing international tech firms is best done through international agreements, the UK was willing to go it alone if consensus cannot be found. Philip Hammond said the time for talking was coming to an end and that the next step would be a Digital Services Tax. Addressing the Conservative party conference, Mr Hammond suggested the measure would form part of a programme to “regenerate capitalism” to tackle the challenges of the modern world. But Labour accused the Chancellor of hypocrisy citing his £30m fund designed to persuade large firms, including Amazon, to mentor small businesses. Peter Dowd, Labour's Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, described it as a “bung” to tax avoiders., Carolyn Fairbairn, the director-general of the CBI warned that a digital tax must not “damage the UK's global competitive advantage” and should go “hand in hand with business rates reform”.