Retailers pay 72p tax per £1 profit as sector’s tax bill hits £62bn

Retailers and hospitality businesses paid 72p and 82p in tax for every £1 of pre‑tax profit respectively, with the two sectors together contributing £62bn in business taxes during 2025/26. Retail employment fell by 122,000 jobs and hospitality by 93,000 over the past two years.

The £62bn tax bill includes VAT, business rates, employer National Insurance contributions and other taxes. Retail and hospitality together account for almost a third of all revenue raised from the property tax, while one in seven high‑street properties nationwide is currently vacant. The BRC has warned that the rising tax burden is already causing job losses and shuttered shops, limiting the sector’s ability to invest and keep prices down. Ahead of the Budget, the BRC and UKHospitality are calling on Chancellor John Healey to ease the tax burden on high‑street firms, for example by taking retail and hospitality properties out of the government’s high‑value business rates multiplier.

“job losses,” Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive said.

“more than 750,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties already benefit from lower business rates multipliers,” Government spokesperson said.

The BRC previously said retail taxes have risen 20 percent over the past two years, leaving the sector paying £1.8bn more in business rates than it did two years ago. Ahead of the upcoming Budget, the BRC and UKHospitality are urging Chancellor John Healey to reduce the high‑street cost burden, including removing retail and hospitality properties from the government’s high‑value business rates multiplier.

What we know

• Retailers pay 72p in tax for every £1 of pre‑tax profit

• Hospitality businesses pay 82p in tax for every £1 of pre‑tax profit

• Retail and hospitality together paid a combined £62bn in business taxes during 2025/26

• Retail employment fell by 122,000 jobs in the past two years

• Hospitality employment fell by 93,000 jobs in the past two years