It is no secret by now that retailers across London remain unhappy about the UK government’s decision to scrap tax-free shopping incentives for tourists. The resulting impact of the move was further emphasised in a new report by the New West End Company (NWEC), which represents the retail landscape for the West End district of London. In its...
16 Sept 2024
A new report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has said that the UK’s widely debated ‘tourist tax’ is costing the region’s economy 11.1 billion pounds in lost gross domestic product (GDP). Cebr said that it had used tourist data released by the government last week to analyse the impact of scrapping the VAT-free shopping...
30 Jan 2024
DFS Group, a subsidiary of luxury conglomerate LVMH, has revealed plans to build a sprawling shopping and entertainment complex on China's duty-free Hainan Islandm, said Bloomberg. Spanning 128,000 square meters and scheduled for a 2026 launch, the project will house over 1,000 luxury brands, including those from LVMH. Alongside shopping, the...
3 Oct 2023
An open letter to chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been signed by 350 business people across the retail, hospitality, arts and tourism sectors, and calls for the reintroduction of tax-free shopping ahead of the government’s debate on the topic, scheduled for September 7. Among the signatories are the CEOs, general managers, designers and directors of...
31 Jul 2023
After mounting pressure from UK retailers, Parliament is set to discuss the topic of reinstating tax-free shopping for international visitors at an upcoming debate on September 7. It comes after calls from both retailers and MPs backing the ‘Scrap the Tourist Tax’ campaign continued to heighten, after it had initially been put to a stop towards...
20 Jul 2023
Walpole, the industry body that represents more than 250 British luxury companies, has published its inaugural ‘State of London Luxury’ report in partnership with Cadogan, which manages more than 90 acres of Chelsea and Knightsbridge and is calling for the reinstatement of a tax-free shopping scheme for international visitors. The report, which...
16 May 2023
Burberry chair Gerry Murphy has accused UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of making a grave mistake in removing the VAT refund for foreign shoppers, claiming that it has made the UK the least attractive shopping destination in Europe. Mr Murphy alluded that tourists can shop tax-free in other cities such as Paris, Milan, and Amsterdam, making the UK...
25 Apr 2023
British accessory business Mulberry is closing its Bond Street flagship store after 27 years. The boutique, housed in one of London’s most affluent shopping destinations, failed to generate sufficient sales after the government ended its VAT-free shopping scheme. What some outlets have dubbed the ‘tourist tax’, Mulberry’s store revenue was...
14 Feb 2023
Luxury trade body Walpole, which includes Burberry, Harrods, and Claridge’s among its members, is calling for the reintroduction of the VAT RES scheme, which it states could result in direct retail sales of at least 1.2 billion pounds. 250 luxury brands are calling on the government to reintroduce tax-free shopping to ensure that the UK’s...
23 May 2022