Mail Beth Hale 04.28.23 Data company Global Blue says tax-free spending by American visitors to the UK has only rebounded to 104 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in the first three months of this year; in France, it is 313 per cent. In 2019, the UK was among the top-ten most visited destinations in the world, with visitors generating £28 … Read More
MPs from all parties call for tourist tax to be axed as Liz Truss and Sadiq Khan claim the fee puts Britain at a ‘competitive disadvantage’ with rest of Europe
Mail Harriet Line 04.24.23 A cross-party group of politicians joined forces tonight to back the Mail’s campaign to bring back tax-free shopping for tourists. Former prime minister Liz Truss led a growing clamour of calls from MPs demanding ministers restore the VAT refund for visitors to boost economic growth. She was joined by Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, … Read More
Sunak accused of making UK the least attractive place to shop in Europe
iNews David Connett 04.25.23 The Prime Minister’s bid to woo UK business misfired when a leading executive accused him of a “spectacular own goal” by imposing VAT changes on tourists after Brexit. Gerry Murphy, boss of fashion house Burberry, told the Prime Minister that his move to scrap the VAT refund for tourists has made Britain the “least attractive” shopping destination in Europe. He was … Read More
Harrods rages as Paris poaches London’s shopaholic elites
The Telegraph Matt Oliver; Hannah Boland and Daniel Woolfson 04.27.23 The year is 2017 and the tills are ringing in Bond Street’s jewellers, fashion retailers and watch shops like never before. A record number of brands are rushing to open stores across central London to serve throngs of tourists, prompting researchers to crown the city as the “world capital” of luxury shopping. To … Read More
Time to scrap the ‘Tourist Tax’ and get Britain booming again: Business leaders call on Chancellor to reinstate tax-free shopping for overseas visitors
Mail Harriet Line & Hugo Duncan A coalition of business leaders today calls for the return of tax-free shopping for overseas tourists. In a letter to the Chancellor, scores of retail, hospitality and tourism bosses warn that removing the VAT refund for visitors has been an ‘extraordinary own goal’. Reinstating it would be a win both for business and the taxpayer, they … Read More
Brexit is a drag on growth, says Burberry chair, as he attacks ‘own goal’ on VAT
The Guardian Alex Lawson 04.24.23 The chair of Burberry has called Brexit a “drag on growth” and asked Rishi Sunak to reverse a decision to remove tax-free shopping for tourists that has left Britain nursing the “weakest” Covid recovery among its big markets. Gerry Murphy, the chair of the £10bn trench coats to handbags fashion house, told the prime minister that a decision to … Read More
Tourist tax means Britain is effectively closed for business to international shoppers
Mail Paul Barnes 24.04.23 Back in 2019, the UK was among the top ten most visited destinations in the world, which had brought in £28billion of revenue, a figure forecast to rise to a whopping £57billion in 2025. Covid’s effects were – and still are – nothing less than devastating. But the legacy of the pandemic is not the most … Read More
Luxury leather brand Ettinger says tourist tax discourages foreign visitors from splurging cash in Britain
Mail Emily Hawkins 04.24.23 Many tourists visiting the UK for the Coronation will be deterred from splashing out due to a lack of VAT-free shopping, the boss of luxury brand Ettinger has warned. Ettinger has been producing leather products such as wallets, briefcases and passport holders since Gerry Ettinger founded the business in 1934. Now his son Robert is worried that visitors … Read More
MPs from all parties call for tourist tax to be axed as Liz Truss and Sadiq Khan claim the fee puts Britain at a ‘competitive disadvantage’ with rest of Europe
Mail 04.24.23 A cross-party group of politicians joined forces tonight to back the Mail’s campaign to bring back tax-free shopping for tourists. Former prime minister Liz Truss led a growing clamour of calls from MPs demanding ministers restore the VAT refund for visitors to boost economic growth. She was joined by Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who said … Read More
Tourist spending down by third as wealthy overseas visitors shun UK over shopping tax imposed by Rishi Sunak when he was Chancellor
Mail Emily Hawkins 03.11.23 Italy and Spain are much closer to seeing a return to 2019 levels of tourist spending, while in France they are already spending more. Paul Barnes, head of the Association of International Retail (AIR), said other cities would be ‘rubbing their hands with glee’ over the figures. American and Middle Eastern tourists in particular have returned to rival cities … Read More