Channel Island VAT loophole furore
Lobby group Forum of Private Business (FPB) is to meet with HM Revenue & Customs tomorrow because some retailers, including Tesco, Asda and Woolworths, are taking advantage of a loophole in the Channel Islands' VAT laws.
The situation, which allows retailers to offer online customers CDs free of VAT, was closed to newcomers by the Jersey government this summer. It followed pressure from the UK Treasury, according to the FPB.
However, retailers with existing licenses to operate in Jersey and Guernsey continue to offer products without VAT. FPB chief executive Nick Goulding said: 'We will be telling HM Customs that high street shops are being fatally undermined by this anti-competitive and deeply cynical tax dodge, because they cannot compete on price.'
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