By the immediate, unilateral, application of an OODC of 35% of the costs of goods (not shipping or packaging charges) for every order that is invoiced from a non-UK location (in the majority of cases, Luxemburg or the Channel Islands).
This must be declared by the selling organization and remitted to the UK or devolved Government depending on the delivery address. This delivery of this remittance would be cross-checked and confirmed separately by the delivery company
The money should be automatically be hypothecated in full into a Business Rates Recovery Fund. If the BRRF is 100% of the collected business rates for the year, then rates paid will be refunded in full to every business. If it is less, then the correct proportion will be refunded. If the BRRF exceeds the business rates income then the excess is deposited into a High Street Regeneration Fund and allocated to each Local Authority in proportion to the business rates generated by it.
This will no doubt be unpopular with the mass of online buyers and their ‘overseas’ suppliers, but will go some way to evening up the uneven fight faced by bricks and mortar retailers. It will protect and/or generate jobs, reduce excess packaging and pollution, and allow consumers to understand the value of what they are buying.
It should be illegal to pass the OODC on to the buyer, or load the shipping charges in an attempt to recover the cost.
It may encourage ‘foreign’ sellers to move their accounting to the UK to avoid this tax, and thus increase the legitimate tax take for the Government(s).
So it is a win-win for the High Street, for jobs, for the post-pandemic recovery, and for the UK economy overall. It may also encourage other countries, who have been dithering with this for years, to make a positive move, and begin taming the online retail giants.
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