Last checked at 
(Adds finance ministry response)
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Some of Britain's biggest
retailers including Tesco and bookstore Waterstones
have urged the government to permanently cut business rates if
it wants physical stores to survive in the age of mass online
shopping.
Britain's retail sector has for years complained that the
business rates system, charged on most commercial properties, is
archaic and hands an unfair cost advantage to online retailers
such as Amazon.
With the pandemic driving the growth of online sales even
further, the retailers, which also include Kingfisher
and supermarkets Asda and Morrisons, said
business rates could hamper any recovery and destroy thousands
of jobs.
In recent months several major clothing retailers have
collapsed, with their brands then bought by online-only groups
which do not need to hire the thousands of staff that once ran
the shops.
The rates, which help fund local services, were halted at
the start of the pandemic but are due to restart in April.
"Reducing business rates for retailers and rebalancing the
tax system to ensure online retailers pay a fair share of tax
would be revenue-neutral, provide a vital boost to bricks and
mortar retailers and support communities in need of levelling
up," the CEOs of 18 retail and property groups said in a letter
to finance minister Rishi Sunak, published on Monday ahead of
his March 3 budget statement.
Supermarkets initially benefited from the freeze on business
rates but paid it back after performing strongly during the
pandemic.
Prior to the pandemic, business rates' share of total tax
receipts was about 4%, according to government data. Last March,
Sunak promised a "fundamental review".
While the letter does not explicitly call for the
introduction of an online sales levy, Tesco, Britain's biggest
retailer, has previously called for one.
"We want to see thriving high streets, which is why we’ve
spent tens of billions of pounds supporting shops throughout the
pandemic," the finance ministry said in a statement.
"Our business rates review call for evidence included
questions on whether we should shift the balance between online
and physical shops by introducing an Online Sales Tax. We’re
considering responses now and will update in due course."
(Reporting by James Davey; additional reporting by William
Schomberg; editing by Michael Holden and Louise Heavens)
