"Now, what else can we tax...?"

News that some councils are resorting to taxing stores and supermarkets for parking spaces they offer their customers, beggars belief. The councils are doing this because central government are denying funds for tasks councils are required to do, so ultimately it is yet another stealth tax by Westminster.

There is talk of charging £600 per parking space per year. If the council has a large supermarket in its area, then with say 150 places then the supermarket would pay £90,000 on top of all the other taxes. It should be remembered that supermarkets already have the (opportunity) cost of the car park - the actual otherwise unproductive valuable land, the sunk costs of tarmacking, the routine maintenance and car park "policing".

Expect support from local shops, whose customers often use the supermarket parking for a quick dash to the local shop(s), because any cost increase to the supermarket is welcome.

Apart from being yet another tax and ever-mounting cost, the implications for the extra tax will depend on how the tax is absorbed. Will it be passed on in higher parking charges, in which case there could be more nearby "side-street" parking, or will it be in higher goods prices, or in the sale of some car-park area or change of use?

Whatever the consequence, in the middle of a recession higher costs is something to be avoided.