All members of the music retailers association have been written to by a Paisley-based record dealer urging them to contact MPs and journalists over what they see as an anti-competitive practice that will hurt their sales in the run-up to Christmas, and cost the UK Treasury almost £100m.
The letter says Tesco and Asda can sell major chart releases for just £7.17 – far less than members can buy them for – by basing mail order operations in Jersey to avoid paying 17.5 per cent UK VAT.
The association represents a host of record dealers, including Woolworths, HMV, Amazon, WH Smith, and ironically, Tesco themselves.
Outgoing Economic Development president Deputy Gerald Voisin says the ‘loophole’ is embedded in UK legislation, not Jersey’s, because it hinges on the minimum limit for charging VAT on imports.
