UK retailers pay the equivalent of £0.72 in business taxes for every £1 of pre-tax profit they make, reveals new analysis from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The trade body compared taxes and profits across 11 major sectors of the UK economy, finding that retail and hospitality face higher effective tax burdens than any other industry. Across all sectors analysed, the average was equivalent to £0.50 for every £1 of pre-tax profit, while the figure for banking was £0.405.
The BRC says retail and hospitality collectively paid £62 billion in taxes during 2025/26, including business rates, employer National Insurance contributions (NICs), VAT and other government taxes.
The analysis comes as the BRC and fellow trade body UKHospitality call on the chancellor to reduce the tax burden on high street businesses ahead of the Autumn Budget. In particular, the organisations want retail and hospitality businesses removed from the government’s business rates high-value multiplier.
The BRC warns that rising employment and property costs are already affecting jobs and investment across the sector, claiming that retail has lost 122,000 jobs over the past two years.
It also argues that higher business taxes risk feeding through to consumer prices as retailers face increased operating costs.
“The chancellor faces a choice: to continue to pile taxes onto our high streets and the millions of households that rely on them, or to give these businesses the breathing space needed to create jobs, deliver growth and hold down prices,” says BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.
“For every £1 of pre-tax profit made by retail, the equivalent of £0.72 is now paid in business taxes. This punishing tax burden has clear consequences: job losses, shuttered shops and a missed opportunity to drive growth in every postcode.”
The government introduced permanently lower business rates multipliers for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties with rateable values below £500,000 from April 2026. However, the BRC argues further reform is needed to reduce the overall burden on high street businesses.