Recommendation 5

The Government’s decision to withdraw from the VAT Retail Export Scheme has made Britain less appealing to tourists while increasing the appeal of our European competitors. It has been a spectacular own goal, signalling that the Government does not, despite its protestations to the contrary, recognise the significance of retail to the inbound tourism sector. For a short while, it appeared to have seen sense, committing once again to providing tax-free shopping for inbound visitors. To then reverse this decision, less than a month later with no new financial analysis provided, only serves to demonstrate the paucity of thought associated with these policy changes. By the Treasury’s own estimation, the scheme could at the very least have been cost neutral. We agree with the industry that a broader analysis of the indirect benefits of the scheme would demonstrate that its cost would be far outweighed by the revenue it would generate and the increased numbers of tourists coming to the UK. (Paragraph 37) 34 Promoting Britain abroad