Chancellor Jeremy Hunt reportedly ordered a review into the scheme this month after a mass of calls from business leaders demanding a reversal, which led many to believe the Treasury was considering a change.

However, in correspondence seen by The Times, Huddleston, the minister responsible for the tax system, said it was  “not possible to introduce the same system as before, given that it would now need to be open to visitors from the EU as well as the rest of the world”.