The best places to shop for duty-free items
Many British airport retailers aren't passing on the tax savings to customers. Here are the best and worst places to buy duty-free around the world.
Most people don't bat an eyelid when asked to show their boarding card for purchases in the departure lounge, assuming that it's needed for security purposes. But that's not the case. There's no legal requirement to check boarding passes, unless you are buying duty-free goods, such as alcohol or tobacco. The reason shops ask for them for other items is because VAT is not payable on goods sold to travellers who are flying outside of the European Union the boarding pass is required as proof.
According to thisismoney.co.uk, the average retail spend at Heathrow is £38.86 per buyer so it's a significant saving. What can you do? Well, apart from refusing to show your boarding pass if it's inconvenient, until the airports pass these savings on to customers, you could go to the best places to buy duty-free items.We listed several of them in the box on the right.
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