Badenoch pledges to bring back tax-free shopping for tourists
Business leaders backed the plan as pro-growth, while VisitBritain said visitor spending remains 8% below pre-pandemic levels.
- Kemi Badenoch pledged to restore tax-free shopping for visitors, reversing a post-Brexit rule change scrapped in 2021. Mrs Badenoch argued the move would help Britain compete globally and support retailers losing customers to rival destinations.
- The Government scrapped the VAT refund scheme in 2021, leaving Britain "less competitive" than European destinations, according to the Tories. Retailers claim the policy change is driving visitors away and damaging small manufacturers across Britain.
- Business chiefs from Fortnum & Mason and Paul Smith hailed the pledge as "pro-growth" and "pro-jobs." VisitBritain estimates show visitor numbers have returned to near pre-Covid levels, yet real-terms spending remains 8% lower than before the pandemic.
- Labour accused the Tories of a "spectacular U-turn" regarding the policy. To offset costs, the Tories proposed a "crackdown" on "health tourism," including stricter charging for ineligible patients in Britain.
- Tax-Free shopping could eventually cover European visitors, with rollout complete by the end of the next Parliament. The Government aims to welcome 50 million international visitors to Britain annually by 2030.
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12 Articles
Businesses welcome Tory pledge to restore tax-free shopping
Top UK business leaders have welcomed Tory plans to bring back tax-free shopping for overseas visitors if they reenter government in a bid to end the tourism shopping slump. The Conservatives said it would restore VAT refunds for eligible visitors from outside the EU after the tax-break was stripped away in 2021 under former chancellor [...]
Tories pledge to restore tax-free shopping for overseas visitors
The Conservatives have pledged to bring back tax-free shopping for overseas visitors as part of plans to boost spending across Britain’s high streets. Party leader Kemi Badenoch said a future Conservative government would restore VAT refunds for eligible visitors from outside the EU, reversing the decision made by the previous Tory government to scrap the...
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