Is tax exemption for public access to treasured artworks ‘a racket’?
Howard Lake | 10 January 2014 | Blogs
Perish the thought!
I recently read an article describing tax exemption for public access to treasured artworks as ‘a racket’. It reported that the owners of 115,000 works don’t pay inheritance or capital gains tax if they allow public access, but that in some cases viewing the artworks can be difficult.
You can search the HMRC website to find details of collections of works of art and other objects that are exempt from tax under the Conditional Exemption Incentive. You can search the whole of the UK, or by one of 13 regions: Scotland (North), Scotland (South),Northern Ireland, North East, North West, Yorkshire & the Humber, Wales, West Midlands, East Midlands, Eastern Region, London, South East, South West. Whilst quite a few are for museums or National Trust properties, there are a few interesting looking results, which could serve as a useful starting point when trying to identify people (who might also be wealthy), with an interest in the arts/heritage.
A number of years ago, it used to be possible to obtain a copy of the database and be able to check by location. Oh happy days! In a number of instances, the database now lists a contact person, e.g. at a firm of solicitors. Still, it might merit further investigation, and it will be interesting to see what follows from the recent article.
Picture: picture frames by Iakov Filimonov on Shutterstock.com
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.