Sainsbury's has said it will hand back about £440m of business rates relief it received as support during the pandemic.
It follows supermarket rivals Tesco and Morrisons, which promised to give back more than £850m on Wednesday.
It follows criticism of grocers, who have seen sales boom in the pandemic, for taking government support.
Sainsbury's said the decision reflected that it had been allowed to stay open throughout the crisis.
As a result, its sales had been "stronger than originally expected".
Chief executive Simon Roberts said: "While we have incurred significant costs in keeping colleagues and customers safe, food and other essential retailers have benefited from being able to open throughout [the pandemic].
"With regional restrictions likely to remain in place for some time, we believe it is now fair and right to forgo the business rates relief that we have been given on all Sainsbury's stores.
"We are very mindful that non-essential retailers and many other businesses have been forced to close again in the second lockdown and we hope that this goes some way towards helping them."
In March, all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England were given a business rates holiday for 12 months to help them get through the crisis.
But supermarkets, who have remained open throughout, have been criticised for taking the money while paying dividends to shareholders.
On Wednesday, Tesco said it would repay £585m after it was criticised for making payouts to investors.
Morrisons subsequently announced it had "brought forward" a decision on rates relief and would pay back £274m.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiLGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmJiYy5jby51ay9uZXdzL2J1c2luZXNzLTU1MTYyNzE00gEwaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmJjLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvYW1wL2J1c2luZXNzLTU1MTYyNzE0?oc=5
2020-12-03 07:54:00Z
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