Major supermarkets hand back £1.8 billion in business rates

Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi and B&M will forgo UK property tax relief during the pandemic, following rivals Tesco and Morrisons and taking the total saved by the government from supermarket groups to £1.8 billion pounds.

Sainsbury’s said on Thursday it would now pay £440 million of so called business rates, while Asda will pay £340 million and German-owned Aldi will pay £100 million.

Discounter B&M later said it would forego business rates relief worth around £80 million in its current financial year.

In March, the government and devolved administrations exempted all retailers from paying the tax on their stores for the 2020-21 financial year to help them through the crisis.

Britain’s supermarket groups have seen sales soar during the pandemic, but have been criticised by lawmakers and media for paying shareholder dividends while receiving tax relief.

However, on Wednesday, market leader Tesco said it would repay the £585 million it had claimed because some of the risks of the crisis were now behind it, and returning the money was “the right thing to do”.

That stance put pressure on rivals to do the same.

Morrisons followed, saying it would pay £274 million.

Sainsbury’s said it had performed ahead of expectations, particularly since the start of the second national lockdown in England last month.

“With regional restrictions likely to remain in place for some time, we believe it is now fair and right to forgo the business rates relief,” CEO Simon Roberts said.

Sainsbury’s also repeated its call for the government to review the business rates system to create a more level playing field between physical and online retailers.

Asda CEO Roger Burnley said the group recognised there were other industries for whom the effects of COVID-19 would be much more long lasting.

Tesco CEO Ken Murphy denied its decision to pay was a calculated one to damage competitors who do not share its financial strength.

“When we made the decision, we didn’t really think about the competition at all,” he told Sky News.

Murphy also said the move was unconnected to Tesco’s plan to pay shareholders a £5 billion special dividend when the sale of its Asian business was completed.

Analysts said the pressure was now on other food retailers to also forgo the relief.

Discounters Lidl and B&M declined to comment.

The Co-operative Group said it plans to review its position at year-end. M&S and Waitrose owner, the John Lewis Partnership, have said they will not forgo it.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters the government welcomed any decision to repay support “where it is no longer needed”.