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

Finding Law Firms Made Easy: An Overview of...

May 16, 2024

Gaussion secures £9.5 million to revolutionise electric vehicle...

August 12, 2024

Firstgroup quietly ends long-running employee director policy

June 12, 2025

Elon Musk to ‘seriously consider’ new Tesla gigafactory...

May 24, 2023

£5M fund to drive SME export growth unveiled...

June 29, 2023

Killing Kittens seeks £10.5m valuation for global expansion...

November 18, 2024

The Art of Etsy Success: The Importance of...

August 9, 2023

Top 5 Industries That Get Advantages From IoT...

August 29, 2024

Asos, Boohoo and George promise to be ‘clear...

March 27, 2024

Labour’s expat exit tax could drive foreign investment...

September 17, 2024

    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

    • Europeans meet with Iranian officials face-to-face for first time since Israel, US bombings as sanctions loom

      July 26, 2025
    • Trump’s executive order on birthright citizenship blocked by another federal appeals judge in latest ruling

      July 26, 2025
    • Michelle Obama portraitist’s exhibit with trans Statue of Liberty pulled after pressure from Vance

      July 25, 2025
    • Can the White House Denaturalize Domestic Opponents?

      July 25, 2025
    • An Updated Interview with George Selgin on Free Banking and Bitcoin

      July 25, 2025
    • Pentagon freezes out DC think tanks in new move, citing ‘America last’ concerns

      July 25, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,576)
    • Investing (2,151)
    • Politics (16,203)
    • Stocks (3,228)
    • 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