Jimmy Choos Cruise! Britons flock to European hotspots to buy designer items, then get a fifth of the cost back thanks to tax loophole
- Trips are named ‘Jimmy Choos cruises’ after the ‘booze cruises’ to Calais
- The VAT discount has only been available to tourists from the UK since Britain left the EU
- British travelers have already made more than €1 for every €20 recovered
Rising numbers of British holidaymakers shopping in European cities are claiming millions of pounds of VAT thanks to a tax loophole.
They can get back up to a fifth of the cost of their purchases within days of returning home.
Thierry Andretta, chief executive of luxury fashion company Mulberry, told The Mail on Sunday that he had met travelers on their return journey to the UK laden with luxury shops worth thousands of pounds.
He said shoppers were outspoken that the money returned through the rebate was enough to cover the cost of the ride, food and accommodation.
The voyages have been named ‘Jimmy Choos cruises’ after the ‘booze cruises’ to Calais in the 1970s and 1980s, when Britons flocked to France to buy duty-free wine, beer and spirits.
Rising numbers of UK holidaymakers shopping in European cities are claiming millions of pounds of VAT thanks to a tax loophole
The VAT discount is available to international travelers visiting Europe, but has only been available to British tourists to the continent since Britain left the EU.
The bulk of the transactions come from high-spending buyers from the Middle East, China and the US, but Global Blue, the Swiss tourist tax refund company that processes the rebate, said British travelers were already good for more than €1 on every €20 recovered.
Derrick Hardman, Global Blue’s general manager in the UK, Ireland and Finland, said: ‘We see UK residents starting to benefit from this.
“People weren’t really aware of it before, but I think it will become more common in the summer months when people realize what’s going on. There are major retailers in Europe that target British travellers.’
Retailers advertise the savings to travelers at airports in Spain and Italy. France is also a hotspot.
A banner at an Italian airport reads: ‘More reasons to laugh: British customers can claim their tax refund.’
They can get back up to a fifth of the cost of their purchases within days of returning home.
In Spain, department store giant El Corte Ingles has offered a 10 percent store voucher on top of the savings to British tourists arriving in Madrid and Barcelona. It said the savings on purchases over €154.95 would be more than 25 percent.
British travelers are required to declare all goods purchased abroad at British Border Control. Goods over £135 are subject to a 20 per cent VAT charge.
But Andretta said the savings from shopping in Europe could still be significant. I’ve estimated that the cost of many French and Italian luxuries was about 15 percent higher in London, where retailers have to factor in the substantial costs of Europe’s highest business rates and eye-watering rents.
‘I see more and more people making the most of this. You see them returning from Paris and it’s clear they’ve been on a shopping weekend,” he said.
A banner at an Italian airport reads: ‘More reasons to smile – UK customers can claim their tax refund’
He claimed British shops went awry after Chancellor Rishi Sunak closed a similar loophole for international tourists visiting here, adding: “It’s frustrating because we’re missing the opportunity.”
He said that stores on the continent ‘enjoy this and we don’t’.
There are already indications that some foreign visitors who spend a lot of money are taking their habits with them to Paris and Milan.
Mr Hardman said it led to the ‘cannibalisation of businesses’ in the UK, adding: ‘It is a shame that the government has taken this away.’