Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Business

Luxury retailers are choosing China over London as ‘tourist tax’ bites

by September 12, 2023
September 12, 2023
Luxury retailers are choosing China over London as ‘tourist tax’ bites

Luxury retailers are choosing China over London as the “tourist tax” stifles a post-pandemic shopping resurgence, the head of a payments processing company has warned.

Alan Holcroft, of Cegid, which works with about a thousand retailers, including Hugo Boss, L’Oréal and Lacoste, said the scrapping of tax-free shopping for tourists had been an “own goal” for Britain.

Big rebate companies, such as GlobalBlue and PlanetTaxFree, advertise heavily in China to lure tourists to tax-free shopping destinations in Europe, offering “cashback” rebates through apps.

“When this Chinese middle class with a lot of disposable income wanted to come to Europe for the first time, they chose London for its tax-free shopping,” Holcroft said, “but since the UK scrapped this, the traffic of international tax-free shoppers coming to Europe was significantly down on pre-Covid levels. Retailers saw the reduction.” Cegid recorded a fourfold increase in formal inquiries from European-based retailers wanting to open shops in China last year.

In January 2021 the Treasury scrapped a scheme enabling VAT refunds for shoppers from outside the European Union as part of a post-Brexit consultation scheme, saying it was a “costly relief which does not benefit the whole of Great Britain equally”.

Holcroft, 52, said: “The knock-on impact is a less diverse high street — Oxford Street’s long-closed flagships are a case in point —as well as fewer jobs and empty stores not generating revenue through business rates that would have fed back into the local economy.”

Mulberry closed its shop on Bond Street in London this year after sales and customer numbers plummeted, blaming the closure on the end of VAT-free shopping. At the same time, its revenue in China has surged.

A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research has suggested that revenue from restoring tax-free shopping would outweigh the losses associated with VAT refunds by £2.3 billion.

The Treasury disputes this. It said: “The scheme could cost British taxpayers around £2 billion a year. Fewer than one in ten non-EU visitors used the previous scheme, showing it’s not a significant attraction for tourists.”

Read more:
Luxury retailers are choosing China over London as ‘tourist tax’ bites

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
WATCH: Biden claims without evidence he was at Ground Zero on day after 9/11 attacks
next post
Wages outstrip inflation for first time in over a year

You may also like

Profits at UK banks to hit £33bn thanks...

October 20, 2022

The Clarkson Effect: how Clarkson’s Farm is driving...

May 26, 2025

Getting To Know You: Shereen Daniels, founder and...

July 16, 2024

Lloyds braced for £1bn tax clash in Ireland...

February 6, 2025

How To Build a People-First Culture of Connection

November 10, 2022

Secrets of Success: Cameron Worth, Founder and CEO...

January 25, 2024

WeWork’s offices are back in business

August 5, 2022

Working parents face additional £1,683 monthly childcare costs...

August 13, 2024

Price rises inevitable if UK small businesses to survive, new analysis...

May 26, 2023

Soft2Bet: Pioneering Innovation and Expansion in the iGaming...

May 17, 2025

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Trump turns to Supreme Court in fight to oust Biden-era consumer safety officials

      July 3, 2025
    • Bush teams up with notorious Trump foes to trash ‘colossal mistake’ shuttering USAID

      July 2, 2025
    • Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ stalls in House amid conservative mutiny threats

      July 2, 2025
    • Democratic doctors’ protest against Trump’s ‘beautiful bill’ derailed by flood of US Capitol tourists

      July 2, 2025
    • Missed Disney’s Rally? Grab This Defined-Risk Put Spread for a Second Chance

      July 2, 2025
    • Market Signals Align – Is a Bigger Move Ahead?

      July 2, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,365)
    • Investing (2,094)
    • Politics (15,921)
    • Stocks (3,187)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved