The UK government has announced that it will no longer allow VAT exemptions for perfumes, clothes, and electronics purchased in the UK or at its airports, ports, and Eurostar stations after January 1, 2021.

‘The Government has once again shown a complete lack of awareness for the jobs and businesses on the line in the aviation sector,” Karen Dee, Chief Executive of the Airport Operators Association, told the Daily Mail. “Our industry is weathering the worst crisis in the history of civil aviation, it can scarcely afford another hammer blow like this.”

Francois Bourienne, Chair of the UK Travel Retail Forum, added, ‘This decision puts the UK out of step with travel retail systems around the world, completely dis-incentives tourists to visit the UK and British passengers making purchases as they go on vacation abroad, and puts UK airports and travel retail at a substantial disadvantage against their European counterparts after Brexit.”

The government claims that the tax relief is not consistent with “international tax principles.” The measure is being introduced in conjunction with a series of other changes to duty-free shopping allowances in advance of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.