Monday newspaper round-up: Tax-free shopping, Asda, Morrisons

The Treasury’s independent forecaster is to review the axeing of tax-free shopping for tourists, raising the possibility that a decision that leisure companies and retailers have blasted for deterring visitors and losing the UK billions in sales could be reversed. With a change of heart likely to be seen as a shot in the arm for struggling businesses, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is to examine the costs and benefits associated with Rishi Sunak’s 2020 decision to end the retail scheme when he was chancellor of the exchequer. – Guardian

The ownership team behind the indebted supermarket Asda could be about to change again after one of the billionaire Issa brothers was reported to be exploring the sale of his stake in the business. Zuber Issa, 51, owns 22.5% of the grocer after a £6.8bn takeover alongside his older brother Mohsin and the private equity firm TDR Capital three years ago. – Guardian

Rishi Sunak’s stealth tax raid will hit up to 900,000 pensioners with a surprise income tax bill next year, new analysis shows. The Prime Minister’s six-year freeze on tax thresholds will force hundreds of thousands of retirees claiming a married couple’s tax break to pay a levy on their state pensions for the first time. – Telegraph

Morrisons has been hit by the abrupt departure of its stores chief as its new boss Rami Baitieh tightens his grip at the top of the supermarket. David Lepley is leaving the business four years after he was appointed group retail director, having worked at Morrisons for nearly eight years. His departure marks the latest leadership change at Morrisons, as the private equity-owned business pursues a bold transformation plan under new chief executive Mr Baitieh. – Telegraph

More than 80 per cent of British companies expect to increase the prices of their goods and services over the next two years, raising fears that inflation will not fall back to the Bank of England’s target. In a survey of companies carried out by PwC, 81 per cent said that rising energy costs, as a result of the withdrawal of government support and global political pressures, would lead them to increase prices for consumers until 2026. Surging global energy costs drove consumer prices inflation to the highest level in nearly 40 years in 2022, as well as raising transport and other costs for industry. – The Times