Scotland’s struggling high streets could receive a financial boost under renewed calls for an Amazon Tax that would make major online retailers contribute more towards the communities where they operate.
Scottish Greens MSP Laura Moodie has urged the Scottish Government to introduce the levy through the business rates system, arguing that small independent shops are increasingly struggling to compete with multinational online businesses.
The proposal would introduce an additional charge on large operations that rely predominantly on online sales, including major distribution centres serving customers across Scotland.
Rather than taxing individual online purchases, the surcharge would be collected through the Non Domestic Rates system, which already determines the business rates paid on commercial properties.
The Greens believe this approach could help address the growing imbalance between traditional high street businesses and online retailers whose business models do not depend on attracting customers into town centres.
Across Scotland, independent shops face the combined pressures of rising operating costs, changing shopping habits and competition from major retailers offering extensive ranges of products online.
For communities throughout the Highlands and Islands, the survival of independent businesses matters beyond the shops themselves, with local retailers providing employment, services and reasons for people to visit town centres.
The Scottish Greens argue that companies benefiting from the growth of online shopping should make a greater contribution towards the local economies affected by that shift.
Moodie said:
“Huge global online retailers are making obscene profits while Scotland’s small businesses are struggling and our high streets are being hollowed out.
“Scotland should be building a tax system that is fair, progressive, and fit for the future, and one crucial way to do this is to level the playing field by making giants like Amazon pay to offset the damage their online businesses have done to local high streets.
“Companies like Amazon have taken more and more from our communities while giving far too little back and sucking huge amounts of wealth out of Scotland’s communities.
“We need to rebalance this and give small and independent businesses a level playing field with billionaire firms to help rejuvenate our local communities and make our neighbourhoods into thriving and better places to be.
“A simple and effective way to do this is to make companies like Amazon pay for the economic damage they have caused.”
The proposal forms part of the Greens’ wider approach to business taxation, which seeks to place additional charges on commercial activities the party considers harmful to local communities.
However, important details remain unresolved, including the proposed surcharge rate, the size of businesses that would qualify and how much additional revenue could be raised.
There is also the question of whether higher charges on distribution centres could eventually be passed on to customers through delivery fees or product prices.
The proposal would need to distinguish between large multinational operations and smaller Scottish businesses that increasingly depend on online sales themselves.
Moodie added:
“The Scottish Greens will always stand up for small local businesses that provide vital local jobs and keep wealth in our communities.
“The Scottish Government must stand up to the global giants who are dominating the market without paying their fair share, and a simple way to do this is to introduce the ‘Amazon Tax’.”
The Scottish Government has not announced plans to implement the proposed surcharge.
For independent retailers facing another difficult trading period, the debate raises a wider question about how Scotland can protect the commercial life of its towns while recognising that online shopping has permanently changed the way people buy goods.
