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17-08-15, 15:51 | #1 | |||||
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Greedy Duty Free Shops at Airports CHARGE Tax
Just Plane Greedy! From Gatwick to Edinburgh, our Reporters Find Chaos and Fury as Airport Shops STILL Refuse to Pass on VAT Discounts
The airport duty free row intensified last night after retailers defied a Government demand to pass on VAT discounts to passengers. Stores in airports across Britain continued to ask travellers for their boarding passes – and failed to cut prices, despite Treasury ministers pleading for an end to the rip-off. Passengers have been left furious by the revelation that airport shops ask to see boarding passes only so shops can avoid paying 20 per cent VAT on sales. Quote:
In fact, the only purpose is to allow stores to escape paying the tax on any products they sell to people travelling outside the EU. Many airline passengers are rebelling and refusing to show their passes now they know they are no longer legally obliged to. On Tuesday, David Gauke, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, intervened and demanded that airport stores pass on the VAT relief to travellers by cutting prices. But when the Mail visited five airports around the country yesterday, there was no evidence of any discounts. Shops continued to ask for boarding passes and refused to cut prices for those flying to destinations outside of the European Union. Quote:
Late last night, Boots said it would no longer ask passengers for their boarding passes. Quote:
W H Smith said it would be too difficult to introduce a ‘dual-pricing’ policy to pass the VAT savings on to non-EU travellers. Accessorize and Dixons did not respond to questions about their prices. Meanwhile, the Mail discovered a confusing picture for travellers at airports across the country. The majority of retailers were still asking to see travel documents but customers were allowed to buy goods if they refused. The only exception was World Duty Free, which has branches at dozens of airports. Staff from the Italian-owned company demanded to see a boarding pass for all purchases and would not allow a sale without one. A spokesman said this was a ‘legal requirement specified by HMRC to ask all passengers to show their boarding passes when buying in our airport stores’. But HMRC said a boarding pass was required only when buying cigarettes and alcohol, which are duty free if taken outside the EU, and there was ‘no legal requirement for the individual to show a boarding pass if they are not buying excisable goods’. Quote:
At Heathrow yesterday, Douglas Lawrie, who was travelling to Ho Chi Min City with his seven-year-old daughter Tamzin, had an argument with the cashier at World Duty Free when they refused to serve him without his boarding pass. Quote:
At Birmingham, British estate agent Mel Diaz, 49, who lives in Hong Kong, said: ‘I read about it in the Daily Mail online. I intend to refuse to show my boarding pass if I am asked.’ Labour MP Chris Bryant and Dragons’ Den star Duncan Bannatyne were among those refusing to hand over boarding passes yesterday. Shadow transport minister Gordon Marsden said yesterday it was ‘simply unacceptable’ that some retailers were taking advantage of this relief and not passing the saving on to travellers. Saga Holidays spokesman Paul Green said: ‘Treasury ministers have confirmed what many holidaymakers believed for some time – that you need to be wary when shopping at Britain’s airports. ‘The VAT exemption is supposed to benefit hard-pressed holidaymakers, but the only ones who appear to bagging a bargain are rapacious retailers – swiping a 20 per cent VAT refund without passing it on to customers. 'Saying that it is just too difficult not to charge the VAT-included price is nonsense – their systems are clever enough to reclaim the VAT so treating customers fairly should be simple.’ He added: ‘This is tantamount to racketeering.’ WH Smith said it was a ‘practical impossibility’ to implement a ‘dual pricing policy’ at airports, but added: ‘Any relief obtained is reflected in our single price and extensive promotional offers provided to all of our customers’. Dixons said: ‘At Dixons Travel we do ask customers to show their boarding pass when making a purchase, but this is only on request and is not mandatory. We have re-issued existing guidance to all our colleagues confirming this as our clear process.’ An HMRC spokesman said: ‘There is nothing in VAT law to require the production of a boarding pass to purchase goods in airport shops.’
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