Tourist Spending: VAT - Question

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 3:17 pm on 24 May 2023.

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Photo of Baroness Penn Baroness Penn The Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury 3:17, 24 May 2023

I do absolutely appreciate the point that the noble Baroness is making. As part of the research that we did in considering this question, HMRC surveyed VAT RES users and the scheme did not make the top 10 in their list of reasons for visiting Britain—and that was for the 8% of visitors who qualified for the scheme who actually used it. We also asked them whether they would continue to purchase in the way they had previously. Two-thirds of those surveyed said that they would have purchased the same items regardless of the scheme, and 95% of people said that they would still shop. I appreciate that there is a wider impact, but we considered that when taking this decision.