Norway has become the latest European nation to cash in on the UK tourist tax blunder as more visitors opt to splash their cash on the Continent.
Steen & Strom, which claims to be the oldest department store in the world and Oslo’s equivalent of Selfridges, reported a 27 per cent rise in tax-free sales to tourists in the first eight months of this year.
‘Many customers tell us they are choosing to make luxury purchases abroad rather than in London,’ said David Wilkinson, executive director at the store. He said the UK tourist tax was a ‘large factor’ behind the shop’s decision to open a new refund service for tourists in June.
Annette Lund, boss of Promenaden, which runs Steen & Strom, said Norway’s VAT-free shopping was ‘resonating strongly with British visitors’, more of whom were heading to the Continent to shop tax-free.
The Norwegian figures come after the Office for National Statistics revealed inbound visits and spending in the UK to be still languishing below pre-pandemic levels while other European nations see a rebound in both the number of tourists and their spending.
More than 500 UK business leaders have backed a Mail campaign to bring back tax-free shopping for foreign visitors to encourage tourism. But the Treasury is not planning to address the issue at the Budget in November.
Scandi style: Tourists are flocking to Steen & Strom, Oslo’s equivalent of Selfridges
Among those pushing for tax-free shopping to be reinstated are Harrods, Primark and Marks & Spencer, and luxury brands Burberry and Mulberry.
Lifting the tourist tax would make the UK the one European destination to offer rebates to 450 million EU customers, as well as tourists from elsewhere.
Before the Conservatives axed tax-free shopping in 2021, tourists from outside the EU could receive a 20 per cent VAT refund on purchases in the UK. Now the UK has left the EU and its customs union, EU residents could shop tax-free alongside high-spenders from China and the US.
Calls for the Government to help business come among fears of another tax raid on firms this autumn as the Chancellor struggles to make her Budget numbers add up.
The bosses of Sainsbury’s, Tesco, John Lewis, Boots and Currys wrote to Rachel Reeves last week to warn her against further tax rises on business.
Retailers say that measures in last autumn’s Budget have already cost them £7 billion.
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