Healey reportedly plans tax crackdown on online marketplaces in first budget
UK Chancellor John Healey is reportedly preparing a first budget that would make platforms such as Amazon and eBay responsible for collecting VAT from sellers, per The Times. The measure could raise up to £1bn for the Treasury.
John Healey, the UK chancellor of the exchequer, is reportedly drawing up a tax crackdown on online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay for his first budget, according to The Times. The move could bring the Treasury up to £1bn in additional revenue. The budget is due on 28 October.
What is planned
The report says marketplaces would become responsible for collecting tax owed by retailers selling through their platforms. VAT, or value added tax, would be collected at source for every seller with annual turnover above £90,000.
The measure would target foreign retailers that have exploited weak rules and enforcement to avoid paying VAT on their sales. The Times says Healey is expected to announce that the money raised would fund cuts to business rates, the property tax on commercial premises, for high street shops.
Pressure on the government
Pressure is growing on the government to help struggling small businesses. Andy Burnham, before being elected in Makerfield, said he would raise the business rates threshold so that 140,000 small high street retailers would not pay the tax.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), a UK economic research body, warned this week that the budget risks being a “work of fiction” unless Healey explains how he will cover £35bn in spending pressures. It said higher inflation meant the chancellor must either top up funding for current spending plans or impose deep real-terms cuts by the end of the decade.
The International Monetary Fund this week raised its 2026 UK GDP growth forecast to 1.3%, up 0.3 percentage points from its July estimate. It also urged Healey to “stay the course” in repairing public finances. Silvana Tenreyro, the IMF’s economic counsellor, said the UK “stands out” among G7 countries in having a plan to narrow its deficit.
A Treasury spokesperson said decisions on tax are for the chancellor to set out at fiscal events, and the department does not routinely comment on rumour, speculation or proposals.
