Business News
Reuters Staff
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain plans to tax retailers and technology companies whose profits rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sunday Times reported, citing leaked emails.
The government has convened companies to discuss how an online tax would work, while also drawing up plans for a one-off ‘excessive profits tax’, the newspaper reported.
Finance Minister Rishi Sunak is unlikely to announce this tax during the March 3 budget announcement, which focuses on expanding the COVID-19 program and supporting businesses, the report said.
They are likely to appear in the second half of the year.
Sunak is under pressure from some in his Conservative party to show that spending is under control when he presents a new budget, after what is on track to be the heaviest annual loan since World War II.
He promised to make public finances sustainable once the economy starts to recover. Data showed last month that public lending had reached a record high of £ 271 billion ($ 370 billion) since the start of the financial year in April.
The Treasury Department was not immediately available for comment on the Sunday Times report.