The UK government has abandoned plans to reintroduce tax-free shopping for overseas visitors, according to Business Traveller. The pre-Brexit perk had enabled international visitors to get a VAT refund on goods bought at high street shops, airports and other departure points.
The scheme was announced last month by then UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, as part of a wider range of measures outlined in his ‘mini budget’.
But his replacement, Jeremy Hunt, confirmed that the government would no longer go ahead with the scheme, after he reversed the majority of the policies unveiled in September, including plans to reduce income tax and freeze alcohol duty rates.
Hunt said: “Not proceeding with this scheme is worth around £2bn (R41bn) a year.”
The tax-free shopping scheme for overseas visitors was abolished in Britain at the end of 2020 although it remained in place in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which facilitates unfettered access for NI goods to the UK market, and the inclusion of NI goods in free trade agreements between the UK and third countries.
