Heathrow’s appeal against the UK government’s decision to scrap tax-free shopping for international tourists is being heard on Monday by the UK High Court.
The London airport claimed that the government failed to consider the “devastating impact” of abolishing the VAT Retail Export Scheme and an Extra Statutory Concession on items at tax- and duty-free shops – but this was rejected by the court in December last year.
The judge ruled that it was impossible to “draw the inference that responses were ignored simply for the fact the conclusion reached was not the one supported by the majority of respondents.”
While acknowledging…