What to know
Tax-free shopping for departing visitors was abolished in Great Britain. A refund on the tax inside goods a traveller carries home in a suitcase has not been available since January 2021. What replaced it belongs to the retailer, not to the traveller.
The tax at stake is value added tax, charged at 20 per cent under section 2 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 and at that rate since 4 January 2011. HM Revenue and Customs withdrew the VAT Retail Export Scheme from Great Britain on 1 January 2021, and the extra statutory concession behind airside tax-free shopping across the whole United Kingdom on the same date.
Northern Ireland is the exception, and its scheme still runs. Notice 704, published by HM Revenue and Customs on 31 December 2020 and last updated on 20 August 2021, sets out when a Northern Ireland retailer may zero rate goods sold to a visitor from outside Northern Ireland and the European Union.
Zero rating itself survives, but only in the exporter's hands. Notice 703, HM Revenue and Customs guidance on exported goods, zero rates a supply where the supplier exports the goods and holds evidence of it. It expressly refuses zero rating where the goods are for the customer's own use and leave in accompanied baggage.
Cash is declared by amount and by group. HM Revenue and Customs requires a declaration of GBP 10,000 or more carried between Great Britain and a country outside the United Kingdom. The Cash Controls (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 substituted that sterling figure into Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1889/2005, with effect from 31 December 2020. Until then the euro figure in that article had applied across the United Kingdom, and Northern Ireland kept it, so a declaration of EUR 10,000 or more is required there for cash carried to or from a country outside the European Union. HM Revenue and Customs takes a declaration at the earliest 72 hours before travel, and a group reaching the threshold between them must declare even if nobody carries that much alone.
Undeclared cash can be detained. Regulation 3 of the Control of Cash (Penalties) Regulations 2007, in force since 15 June 2007, lets HM Revenue and Customs impose a penalty of up to GBP 5,000 for failing to declare.
Paper notes kept from an earlier trip cannot be spent, because the Bank of England has withdrawn them. Its paper GBP 20 and paper GBP 50, both from Series F, ceased to be legal tender on 30 September 2022. There is no deadline for exchanging them. The Bank's page, last updated on 2 September 2026, sets out four routes: a United Kingdom bank account, designated post office counters that swap up to GBP 300 without an account, by post, or the Bank's own counter in London. It said on 2 September 2026 that postal exchanges were running up to 90 working days behind.
Heading off with a card? Read how to choose a travel money card - including why you should always pay in the local currency, not Australian dollars.
Working out what the trip costs? Put your daily spend and trip length through the travel budget calculator, or convert a single amount with the currency converter.