Duty-free shopping in the UK will be reintroduced for overseas visitors, the country’s new chancellor announced on Friday.
Tourists will soon be able to claim all value-added tax paid on goods in plans unveiled by the government.
Shoppers used to be able to reclaim the taxes before they left the country at airports and refund agencies.
But former chancellor Rishi Sunak scrapped the rebate in December 31, 2020, despite fears it would cost 40,000 British jobs and £1 billion ($1.12bn) of investment.
Speaking in the House of Commons to announce the new government’s mini-budget, Kwasi Kwarteng said the move would benefit British retailers.
“Britain welcomes millions of tourists every year and I want our high streets and airports, our ports and our shopping centres to feel the economic benefit,” he said.
“So we have decided to introduce VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors.
“We will replace the old paper-based system with a modern, digital one.
“This will be in place as soon as possible. This is a priority for our great British retailers, so it is our priority too.”
Industry experts welcomed the move, saying British retailers have been lobbying for a reinstatement of the rebate for two years.
"The government's reversal on tax-free shopping in today's mini-budget is a huge relief after nearly two years of lobbying with the retail sector for this," said Hugh Seaborn, chief executive of Cadogan, a property manager, investor and developer based in Chelsea.
"International visitors are fundamental to London and the UK's recovery, and we now have a level-playing field alongside other European cities that never ceased to offer this incentive.
"We are firmly back on the map as an extremely attractive destination and unbeatable once more in terms of a heady mix of culture, heritage and fantastic shopping."
The rebate is among a series of measures announced on Friday, designed to break the “cycle of stagnation” in the British economy.
They include a cut in the basic rate of income tax to 19p from April 2023 and the abolishment of the top rate of tax for higher earners.
The government also lifted the cap on bankers’ bonuses, raised the threshold for stamp duty to £250,000 and reversed an increase in National Insurance.
"We need global banks to create jobs here, invest here and pay taxes here in London — not in Paris, not in Frankfurt and not in New York," Mr Kwarteng said.
"We are securing our place in a fiercely competitive global economy, with lower rates of corporation tax and lower rates of personal tax."
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THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
Ads on social media can 'normalise' drugs
A UK report on youth social media habits commissioned by advocacy group Volteface found a quarter of young people were exposed to illegal drug dealers on social media.
The poll of 2,006 people aged 16-24 assessed their exposure to drug dealers online in a nationally representative survey.
Of those admitting to seeing drugs for sale online, 56 per cent saw them advertised on Snapchat, 55 per cent on Instagram and 47 per cent on Facebook.
Cannabis was the drug most pushed by online dealers, with 63 per cent of survey respondents claiming to have seen adverts on social media for the drug, followed by cocaine (26 per cent) and MDMA/ecstasy, with 24 per cent of people.
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UAE squad: Rohan Mustafa (captain), Shaiman Anwar, Ghulam Shabber, Mohammed Qasim, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Chirag Suri, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Mohammed Naveed, Amjad Javed, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Fixtures:
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Wednesday, 2nd 50-over match
Thursday, 3rd 50-over match
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Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
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