The ‘Keep tax-free sales at airports and the VAT Retail Export Scheme’ petition has exceeded 10,000 signatures and the UK government will now respond.

Launched in late October by TRBusiness in reaction to the government’s decision to remove the tax free concessions, the petition breached 7,000 signatures on 13 November and racked up a whirlwind 1,000 signatures in less than 48 hours before hitting 10,000 on the evening of 2 December.

The campaign has received fervent support from across the travel, tourism and retail industries, including endorsements from the Duty Free World Council, European Travel Retail Confederation, Tax Free World Association and UK Travel Retail Forum.

Pressure against the Treasury to reverse a decision that could put at risk thousands of jobs and cause major harm to Britain’s already beleaguered businesses across the UK’s retail and aviation sectors, among others, has stiffened in recent weeks.

A flurry of brands including Gucci, L’Oréal Luxe UK, Tiffany & Co, among others, have come out in force against Chancellor Rishi Sunak to review the change.

Last week, non-departmental public body the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) questioned the sums around the Treasury’s axing of the VAT Res scheme.

In a timely boost following last week’s Spending Review, the OBR confirmed the Exchequer would save around £360 million, not the circa £520m initially estimated by the Treasury.

For the full background and detail on the petition campaign, see below links and click above to sign the petition.

UK government response nears on ‘Save Tax Free Petition’

TRBusiness petition surpasses 7,000 signatures

TRBusiness launches petition to save tax free sales

Brands crank up the pressure on UK government to reverse tax free decision