In a move that absolutely no one could have predicted, Amazon have announced the government’s 2% Digital Services Tax is to be passed straight onto consumers. Guido presumes the government line on this one will be full Brass Eye: ‘This is the one thing we didn’t want to happen’…

A post on the Amazon Services forum announces that, while the legislation was being passed, the company “absorbed this increase”, however now the law has been implemented they

“will be increasing Referral fees, Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) fees, monthly FBA storage fees and Multichannel Fulfilment (MCF) fees by 2% in the UK to reflect this additional cost”

UK businesses who rely on goods from Amazon will now have to fork out for the rise, with the government not getting a penny from Amazon’s coffers. The government should take this tax policy failure into account before considering the rumoured online sales tax for a moment longer…