Thousands of international travellers who used to visit the UK for VAT-free shopping have turned to luxury retailers in Paris and Milan after the British government scrapped the tax incentive in 2021.
New research has found that 162,000 visitors from non-EU countries sought VAT refunds in the UK in 2019. Now 20 per cent of those tourists are claiming tax rebates in EU countries which still have shopping schemes.
The 34,000 tourists who have swapped the UK for continental Europe to carry out tax-free shopping also increased their spending to an average of €3,800 in 2023, up from €2,900 in 2019, according to figures from Global Blue, first published by Bloomberg.
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France and Italy