Air travellers refusing to show boarding passes at airport shops after news about VAT avoidance

Belly said:
Are these correct examples:

A traveller flying to a destination outside the EU purchases £12 worth of suntan lotion and shows his boarding pass. The seller does NOT pass on the £2 in VAT to the UK treasury? If he refused to show his boarding pass £2 would have to be sent to the treasury?

Another traveller travelling within the EU also buys £12 worth of suntan lotion, shows his boarding pass and £2 would then be "sent" to the treasury?
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EU = £12
Outiside EU =£10

Thats how i thought it should work, usually does as well.
 
neil_g said:
you overestimate the brain capacity of various layers of management in retail and/or their willingness to spend on systems :D
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And I think you are possibly somewhat over-simplifying things, if you think overall company policy is defined by inept middle-management. The bean counters at the top know exactly what and why they are doing things, and will know exactly what the beneficial effects of this boarding card spiel were. After all, why invest in systems if nobody noticed thus far and it was working to increase profits? Retail giants are almost often reactionary when it comes to reducing profits. ;)
 
robj20 said:
EU = £12
Outside EU =£10

That's how i thought it should work, usually does as well.
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I don't think that's the case robj20 because they don't have dual prices on the shelves. In the spirits department at Manchester AP they do have signs stating "within EU" and "Outside EU" with different prices. I'm pretty sure that is NOT the case in Boots, Luggage Shops etc.
 
Raymond Lin said:
I don't actually object to higher price, like buying bottled water on top of Mount Fuji costs more than at the base camp. You are past immigration and if you want food, it costs more, they got you by the balls, that's fine.

But if you are not legally obliged to show your boarding pass...then I won't. As the result of showing them the boarding pass means they could basically increase their profit margin by 20%.
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I've rarely purchased any actual goods in an airport, apart from the odd bit of food for the plane. It does annoy me that you have to show your boarding pass when buying anything though. They should work on the system that assume all flights are within the EU unless the passenger gives their boarding pass to say otherwise.

Also while it now seems like there is no legal obligation to show your boarding pass when purchasing anything, it's likely the retailer will refuse to sell you the items without it, so they've got you by the balls this way too.
 
Semple said:
I've rarely purchased any actual goods in an airport, apart from the odd bit of food for the plane. It does annoy me that you have to show your boarding pass when buying anything though. They should work on the system that assume all flights are within the EU unless the passenger gives their boarding pass to say otherwise.

Also while it now seems like there is no legal obligation to show your boarding pass when purchasing anything, it's likely the retailer will refuse to sell you the items without it, so they've got you by the balls this way too.
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Are they going to refuse to sell to so many people? Doubtful. Plus, Boots have already responded in the press saying that people are free not to show a boarding card, so you are not correct there.
 
I'm more amused that HMRC have suddenly decided to jump on the bandwagon. Like they didn't know it was happening before.

Give over...
 
Why is vat so expensive at 20% it is a rip off to begin with. It used to be 17.5% until a temporary increase to 20 several years ago.

A lot of countries don't even have a sales tax. Is it not enough for their greedy sticky fingers in the public sector to take money from our salaries before we get it? They have to take it from us when we spend money as well.

With inflation as a hidden tax they also steal money from us when we save it or do nothing with it.
 
anything I don't mind said:
Why is vat so expensive at 20% it is a rip off to begin with. It used to be 17.5% until a temporary increase to 20 several years ago.

A lot of countries don't even have a sales tax. Is it not enough for their greedy sticky fingers in the public sector to take money from our salaries before we get it? They have to take it from us when we spend money as well.

With inflation as a hidden tax they also steal money from us when we save it or do nothing with it.
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Which countries don't have sales tax? Most western ones do.
 
I'd actually be willing to spend considerably more on duty free if the VAT saving was passed on to me, I wonder how many more people would as well. Most people like a potter around the shops when jetting off on holiday, I think a majority of those might buy significantly more if the price represents significant value against the high street.
 
anything I don't mind said:
Why is vat so expensive at 20% it is a rip off to begin with. It used to be 17.5% until a temporary increase to 20 several years ago.

A lot of countries don't even have a sales tax. Is it not enough for their greedy sticky fingers in the public sector to take money from our salaries before we get it? They have to take it from us when we spend money as well.

With inflation as a hidden tax they also steal money from us when we save it or do nothing with it.
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Take a look at sales tax across Europe.
 
Belly said:
I don't think that's the case robj20 because they don't have dual prices on the shelves. In the spirits department at Manchester AP they do have signs stating "within EU" and "Outside EU" with different prices. I'm pretty sure that is NOT the case in Boots, Luggage Shops etc.
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As someone that has just gone on holiday, using Manchester airport and using both branches of the boots WHsmiths in there:

No, they dont have "within EU" and "Outside EU" with different prices. And yes, they did ask me to scan my boarding pass, both times.

EDIT: WHsmiths, not boots - sorry
 
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anything I don't mind said:
Why is vat so expensive at 20% it is a rip off to begin with. It used to be 17.5% until a temporary increase to 20 several years ago.

A lot of countries don't even have a sales tax. Is it not enough for their greedy sticky fingers in the public sector to take money from our salaries before we get it? They have to take it from us when we spend money as well.

With inflation as a hidden tax they also steal money from us when we save it or do nothing with it.
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VAT at 20% is in line with most of the EU. I don't agree with VAT being levied on some items (energy and tampons spring to mind), but on non-essential goods I don't see the issue. In an ideal world it would only be on "luxury" items which would make it less regressive.
 
Richdog said:
And I think you are possibly somewhat over-simplifying things, if you think overall company policy is defined by inept middle-management. The bean counters at the top know exactly what and why they are doing things, and will know exactly what the beneficial effects of this boarding card spiel were. After all, why invest in systems if nobody noticed thus far and it was working to increase profits? Retail giants are almost often reactionary when it comes to reducing profits. ;)
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sorry i took so long to reply i was clearing tea off my screen.
 
I don't even understand duty free shopping from the UK anymore....

In most most of the EU (world) booze and fags are substantially cheaper than in the UK regardless of no VAT.

Duty free prices are about inline with a normal UK Tesco or ASDA high street supermarket...

If you are buying electronics, sunglasses other ludicrously expensive items you can probably get a better deal online or face to face from a specialist dealer, in the case of a nice watch etc...

Its all a big ruse.

Only good thing is i can cover myself in aftershave for free so i smell nice for the air hostesses.
 
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