No VAT When Shopping

For the past few days since I am in London I have been noticing that most of my receipts don't have the VAT mentioned on them. Some places even have a sign saying they won't be charging VAT which I never bothered to read.

Something that I have been monitoring here from the first day is that I haven't seen that much tourist like before. Speaking to a few business man here some say that their business have been effected badly the others say they are still in better hands if not the best.

Yesterday while shopping around the lady at Selfridges mentioned that "Sir, the price is without VAT". I was quite surprised so I asked her the reason behind it. She said with the present economy crises the Tax department in UK have decided not to charge any more tax as of 1 December 2008 till further notice to give some boost to the business. She also mentioned that the prices will be increasing as of 1st March 2009. I don't know how much true is that but I think if anyone of you is visiting UK now its a good time to shop. They have some great deals on products.

UPDATE: I was informed wrong!!!!!@@!!!!! I went to purchase a wallet from Mont Blanc today and the salesman there informed me that no one can do that and we still have to collect the VAT from the airport. The only difference is that it has been reduced from 17.5% to 15%.

Comments

Mar8adoosh said…
OMG I WANNA GOOOO SHOPPING HNAAAAAAAK !!
i never been to london :-( *sniff*

sij wayid '3alya? yegolon zadat il as3ar ib shakil mo 6abee3i
Anonymous said…
Mar8adoosh: hehe you can shop in states too ;p

My Silhouette In Red: You need to visit it then....Its not as expensive like the people say...It all depends what you want to do :)
Bloggerista said…
interesting

but why are prices increasing starting March 1st?
Anonymous said…
Ansam: no I am not I am not into shopping ;p

Fashionista: I think its like giving from this hand and taking from the other!
shamma aldabal said…
kewl man ! ..
btw prices of brand names are also decreasing by maybe 10% here in dubai ..
i saw a GUCCI bag that costed 5400 awal ma nezlat .. but they lowered it to 4600 i think .. and no it's not on sale ! ..
Smart-y said…
abii aroo7!!! ma sharait 7q winter clothes oo el sheta a9lan be5ali9!! :P
bs wallah zain, at least they're doing something!!! mu e7na 5alf allah 3leena!! emsawiin hessa 3la el ma7fa9'aa elii 9arlhom shkther yetklmon 3nha!! =S
Anonymous said…
They wanna give customers a break now then charge higher prices in March! Doesn't make sense!
His Sweetheart said…
I wanna go there too :(

Glad, it's less Arabs back there so that you could enjoy it ;)
FourMe said…
What do you mean there is no VAT? Its been lowered from 17.5% to 15%!! People are still collecting their Vat from the airports.. I'm not sure but I think you're mistaken..
3anooda said…
completely agree - a couple of weeks ago i got a handbag that has at least 100 pounds knocked off because of VAT. PLUS with the exchange rate basically it went from 1.1 to about 1.8

basically i got my new Burberry bag for peanuts
Anonymous said…
Fourme: you are right I was informed wrong! ;/
k town said…
hmm thats strange..
so which one of them are saying the truth?
Nutter said…
i guess everywhere the prices are increasing :/

Allah y3een
Anonymous said…
i wana be in ur place :)

enjoooooooooooooooy
Anonymous said…
I wanna go shopping!!
Anonymous said…
I agree... wallets should be nice! lol mabroukk :P
Razz said…
i do miss shopping in london,, what i miss more is just the early morning walk around the block, city, and shops
PaLoMiNo said…
mo tensa 9oo'3ty ;p
Candy said…
akeed u missed el khalijee sunny weather :DD
Anonymous said…
sweet stuff, almost makes me want to take time off from work and go shopping somewhere XD

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