Welcome refund from supermarkets as £1.7bn returned to taxpayers - The Yorkshire Post says

The changes wrought on ordinary life by the coronavirus crisis this year have created winners as well as losers - with supermarkets perhaps among the biggest beneficiaries.
Shoppers queue outside a Sainsbury's supermarket prior to opening in Plymouth on March 19, 2020. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)Shoppers queue outside a Sainsbury's supermarket prior to opening in Plymouth on March 19, 2020. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Shoppers queue outside a Sainsbury's supermarket prior to opening in Plymouth on March 19, 2020. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

As such, it is heartening to see that major chains - including Yorkshire-based Morrisons and Asda - have followed in the footsteps of Tesco in announcing they will hand back millions of pounds saved in business rates relief this year. The total being handed back to the Government from the grocers, who also include Aldi and Sainsbury’s, totals more than £1.7bn.

While the figure will not make that much of a dent in the huge amount of public money that has been spent on dealing with the effects of the crisis, it is nevertheless a welcome move that will also hopefully help inspire other businesses that have come through 2020 in a position which means that tax break was not needed to follow suit.

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Doing so will obviously hit profits, but as the major supermarket chains have obviously calculated it also carries with a priceless amount of positive PR and a feeling of goodwill from customers whose own finances have been affected this year.

There is also something of a political element to this move by the supermarkets. Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts said the Government must review the business rates system to create a more level playing field between physical and online retailers.

Given the sad struggles of High Street names like Debenhams and Topshop, set against the ever-increasing retail dominance of Amazon, that is something which is hard to argue against.

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