Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that that the new Digital Services Tax announced Budget 2018 does not disproportionately affect small digital businesses.

The Digital Services Tax will only apply to businesses with in-scope revenues of more than £500 million globally and £25 million in the UK, and businesses will not have to pay the tax on their first £25 million of relevant UK revenues. This means small businesses will not be in scope of the tax.

The tax also includes a ‘safe-harbour’ which means those with very low profit margins will be able to elect to pay a lower rate of tax, which will ensure the DST is proportionate.