The Wall Street Journal24/11/20 “I thought that the point of Brexit was that we were going to become more competitive,” said Jace Tyrrell, chief executive of the New West End Company, which represents some 600 businesses in central London, including Nike Inc., Apple Inc., and Ralph Lauren Corp. “This is going to affect not just London but regional cities like Edinburgh which rely on tourists.” Read the … Read More
In Britain, Watch Sellers Shocked at End of Sales Tax Refund
The New York Times19/11/20 “We’ll have Chinese visitors, because the market is growing, but they just won’t be spending money here” said Paul Barnes, chief executive of the Association of International Retail in Britain. “They’ll come and visit the U.K., but they’ll wait until they get to France to do their shopping.” Read the full article here.
End of VAT refunds would deter Chinese UK visitors
China Daily25/09/20 Paul Barnes chief executive of the Association of International Retail said: “Chinese visitors are by far the biggest international shoppers in the UK and shopping is the main reason they visit. If Britain ends its tax-free scheme, Chinese travellers are much more likely to visit any other European country for shopping. At a time when the British tourism … Read More
Retailers On Collision Course With U.K. Treasury Over Abolition Of Tax-Free Shopping
Forbes23/09/20 The Association of International Retail (AIR) says that one reason the U.K. government is dropping tax-free shopping is that the current paper-based validation system used by the tax department, HMRC, would not be able to manage VAT refunds once they become available to EU tourists from January. EU travellers account for 70% of all U.K. visitors. AIR’s CEO Paul … Read More