London’s business chiefs have stepped up their campaign to persuade Jeremy Hunt to restore tax-free shopping for international visitors to help to boost the economy.
The BusinessLDN group, whose members include Primark, Starbucks and several London airports, said yesterday that the “only winners” of the “tourist tax” had been cities such as Paris, Madrid and Milan that had schemes in place.
In a submission to the Treasury, the not-for-profit lobby group presented analysis based on a report by Oxford Economics, which showed the capital could be given a boost of £1bn and 13,400 jobs if the government restored duty-free shopping for international visitors. The scheme was abolished after Brexit.
