Britain's Morrisons joins Tesco in returning pandemic tax relief

LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - British supermarket group Morrisons on Wednesday joined market leader Tesco in deciding to pay government business rates for the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In March the British government exempted all retailers from paying the tax on their store networks for the 2020/21 year to help them get through the crisis.

Morrisons, the UK's fourth largest grocer, has now committed to pay business rates for the coronavirus period in full.

It said the total amount to be paid will be 274 million pounds ($366 million) of which 230 million pounds relates to its 2020/21 financial year.

Earlier on Wednesday, Tesco said it would repay 585 million pounds, putting pressure on rivals to do the same.

($1 = 0.7487 pounds) (Reporting by James Davey;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)