Retailers in London and other British tourist hotspots have been left disappointed after UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's “hammer blow” decision to reverse the planned reinstatement of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/10/14/coronation-seen-as-deadline-for-return-of-tax-free-shopping/" target="_blank">tax-free shopping for foreign visitors</a> that his predecessor <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/10/14/who-is-kwasi-kwarteng-sacked-after-40-days-one-of-the-shortest-serving-chancellors-ever/" target="_blank">Kwasi Kwarteng</a> had announced last month. Tourists' ability reclaim VAT in the UK was abolished on New Year’s Eve in 2020, with the costs of maintaining the rebate after Brexit considered to be disproportionate. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/10/14/kwasi-kwarteng-sacked-as-uk-chancellor-after-market-chaos-reports-say/" target="_blank">Mr Kwarteng </a>had announced the move in his tax-slashing mini-budget statement in September, which <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/2022/09/25/the-pound-is-dropping-what-will-it-mean-for-british-taxpayers/" target="_blank">crashed the pound</a> and forced the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/10/13/pound-falls-as-investors-await-the-end-of-bank-of-englands-bond-buying-intervention/" target="_blank">Bank of England into an emergency gilt-buying spree</a> to the tune of £60 billion ($67bn) in an attempt to calm febrile markets. It would have meant foreign visitors to the UK could have obtained a 20 per cent refund on goods bought in Britain and exported in their personal baggage. At the time of the announcement, it was heartily welcomed by luxury fashion and jewellery retailers, whose products are perennially popular with wealthy tourists. Paul Barnes, chief executive of the Association of International Retail, was one of the loudest cheerleaders for Mr Kwarteng's proposal and called the decision in 2020 to scrap the exemption “devastating” for the industry. In an “ideal world” tax-free shopping would be back in time for <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/10/07/king-charles-iiis-coronation-backed-to-be-a-bank-holiday/">King Charles's coronation</a> on May 6, he said in the aftermath of the mini-budget. Mr Barnes has now been left seething at Mr Hunt's reversal. “This short-sighted move is based on inaccurate and incomplete projections,” said Paul Barnes, head of the Association of International Retail, calling the about-turn a “hammer blow to UK tourism and the British high street.” More dissenting voices from the sector swiftly materialised on Monday. Helen Brocklebank, chief executive at Walpole, which represents the UK luxury industry, said Walpole expected the plan to deliver at least £1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) in direct retail sales. “We are disappointed that the government has decided not to proceed with its policy to return tax-free shopping, a policy which will quickly deliver growth,” she said. “It would have been a significant boost to UK manufacturing, which forms part of the wider ecosystem of the sector and supports jobs across the country. The British Retail Consortium was also against Mr Hunt’s decision to stick with VAT. “We are disappointed by the decision on tax-free shopping for tourists, which would have helped strengthen the UK’s position as a top destination for international shoppers,” said Tom Ironside, the BRC’s director of business and regulation. “This decision leaves the UK as one of the only European countries not to provide a tax-free shopping scheme to encourage tourism.”