Thousands of Shoppers Swapped London for EU Since ‘Tourist Tax’

Thousands of tourists who used to come to Britain for tax-free shopping are now visiting stores in Paris, Milan and Madrid after the UK scrapped the incentive in the wake of Brexit.

New analysis shows that 162,000 tourists from outside the European Union sought refunds on VAT — a sales tax — exclusively in Britain in 2019. One fifth of those tourists are now claiming rebates in other parts of the EU, where the tax break still applies.

The UK ended the tax incentive in 2021 and has resisted strong lobbying from retailers and other companies linked to the tourism ...