Christian Louboutin sticks boot in over tax-free shopping

Christian Louboutin has blamed the end of tax-free shopping for international visitors after its British business fell into loss.

The French luxury footwear designer, whose shoes are worn by celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Jennifer Lopez and Rihanna, has become the latest luxury group to argue that the government’s decision to remove tax-free shopping has hit sales to overseas visitors.

“We continue to see reduced international clientele following the UK government’s decision to remove tax-free shopping,” the company said in its annual results.

Under the VAT retail export scheme, non-European Union visitors to the bloc could recover the VAT on high street purchases. The tax-free shopping scheme, which allowed international shoppers to reclaim 20 per cent VAT on purchases, was scrapped after Britain left the