Well-known UK High-Street retailers and global DF&TR retailer World Duty Free, have come under attack from the UK press for allegedly ‘ripping off’ customers at the airport and banking ‘millions’ in the process. TRBusiness has obtained statements from WDF and Boots in defence of their positions.

Research conducted by The Independent newspaper – and circulated by many others including the BBC, Mail Online and The Telegraph – suggests that ‘the majority of airport stores are passing little, if any, of its savings to customers’ and using the tax rebate to boost their profits.

The latest update from The Independent newspaper is that customers travelling through UK airports are now refusing to hand over their boarding passes in ‘revolt’ at the revelations.

The Mail quoted passengers passing through UK airports who were apparently ‘disgraced’ by the fact that shops are ‘making millions from tax discounts’ on duty free goods as they avoid paying VAT (at 20%) on goods sold to customers travelling outside of the EU.

Soon after these revelations surfaced, social media forums began to bristle with criticism for Boots, Dixons and WH Smith, creating ill-feeling towards airport retailers.

Via Twitter, author and freelance journalist, Charles Arthur said in response to the article from The Independent: “Amazing: UK air travellers being ripped off over VAT/boarding pass scam.”

And Trading Standards promoted a link to the original Independent story with this comment: “Duty free discounts or duty free rip offs? How airport stores use your boarding card details to pocket millions.”

World Duty Free, which has recently been acquired by Dufry, has now responded to the criticism: “For World Duty Free Group it is a legal requirement specified by HMRC to ask all passengers to show their boarding passes (stating flight numbers and destination), when buying in our airport stores. This procedure is accepted and common practice in duty free shops around the world.

“Unlike other airport stores, goods sold in duty free stores are brought onto the airport ‘duty and tax suspended’ (which means that the duty free retailer accounts for the taxes when the product is sold to the customer).

“World Duty Free uses the flight destination information on the boarding pass to ensure that any applicable customs, excise duty &/or VAT is fully accounted for to HMRC.

“This process does not allow World Duty Free to reclaim any tax from HMRC, on the contrary it is the system agreed with HMRC that enables World Duty Free to make the correct payment to HMRC where applicable.”

The company also highlights that a copy of the regulation can be found here.

TRBusiness was also able to obtain comments from UK high-street retailer Boots: “At Boots UK we believe in offering all of our customers the same great value wherever and whenever they choose to shop with us.

“For this reason we have a single pricing structure for everyone and offer the same great promotions and rewards whether they shop in one of our stores or online, this includes our airport stores.

“We are claiming back VAT on a proportion of purchases made by customers flying to non EU destinations in accordance with current VAT rules set by the HMRC. However, showing a boarding card is not compulsory and any of our customers that do not wish to share this information can shop with us without the boarding card being scanned.”

The UK TRF and ETRC were also contacted for a comment, but no representatives have responded at this point.