Amazon, Flipkart seek rollback of proposed new tax on online sellers

Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart are among online retailers demanding that India scale back a proposed tax on third-party sellers on their platforms, saying the burden of compliance will hurt the fledgling industry, according to documents seen by Reuters.

The online retail industry is braced for a possible 1% tax on each sale made by sellers on their platforms from April if the proposal is approved by parliament next month.

The move is part of a broader plan by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to increase tax revenues and counter a sharp economic slowdown due to weakening consumer demand.

But the tax will hurt