Fifty-one items worth £25m in tax have been donated to the nation in the past two years under the government’s Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
The treasures secured includes Giorgio Morandi’s A Still Life of Three Containers, which has been allocated to Tate; a 16th-century gold-inlaid jade Ottoman tankard, which has joined the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection; and an oil sketch by Rubens, The Triumph of Venus, which has been placed in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
The Acceptance in Lieu scheme was founded in 1910 and allows donors to offset their inheritance tax liabilities by leaving objects of cultural, historical or artistic significance to the public.
In 2010-11, cultural objects worth £8.3m were allocated to national institutions, and in 2011-12, the total was £31.3m. “The acceptance of these objects has settled £24.9m worth of tax,” said a statement from Arts Council England (ACE), which administers the scheme.
ACE will also oversee the administration of the Cultural Gifts initiative, which will offer a tax reduction to people who donate a work of art or object during their lifetime.
When the scheme launches next year, 30% of the agreed value of the object can be set against the donor’s income or capital gains tax. Companies will be given a relief of 20% of agreed value to offset against corporation tax.
The two schemes will have a combined annual limit of £30m, rather than the £20m initially proposed.
Meanwhile, the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, financed by ACE, was cut from £900,000 in 2010-11 to £600,000 in 2011-12. However, the fund budget for 2012-13 is £750,000.
The fund’s head, Janet Davies, said: “We believe demand has not diminished and museums still have big ambitions, but for the third year running, we have had to close applications for items costing more than £60,000.”
The V&A Purchase Grant Fund considered 264 applications in 2007-08 when the budget stood at £1m; in 2011-12, the number dropped to 149.
The treasures secured includes Giorgio Morandi’s A Still Life of Three Containers, which has been allocated to Tate; a 16th-century gold-inlaid jade Ottoman tankard, which has joined the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection; and an oil sketch by Rubens, The Triumph of Venus, which has been placed in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
The Acceptance in Lieu scheme was founded in 1910 and allows donors to offset their inheritance tax liabilities by leaving objects of cultural, historical or artistic significance to the public.
In 2010-11, cultural objects worth £8.3m were allocated to national institutions, and in 2011-12, the total was £31.3m. “The acceptance of these objects has settled £24.9m worth of tax,” said a statement from Arts Council England (ACE), which administers the scheme.
ACE will also oversee the administration of the Cultural Gifts initiative, which will offer a tax reduction to people who donate a work of art or object during their lifetime.
When the scheme launches next year, 30% of the agreed value of the object can be set against the donor’s income or capital gains tax. Companies will be given a relief of 20% of agreed value to offset against corporation tax.
The two schemes will have a combined annual limit of £30m, rather than the £20m initially proposed.
Meanwhile, the V&A Purchase Grant Fund, financed by ACE, was cut from £900,000 in 2010-11 to £600,000 in 2011-12. However, the fund budget for 2012-13 is £750,000.
The fund’s head, Janet Davies, said: “We believe demand has not diminished and museums still have big ambitions, but for the third year running, we have had to close applications for items costing more than £60,000.”
The V&A Purchase Grant Fund considered 264 applications in 2007-08 when the budget stood at £1m; in 2011-12, the number dropped to 149.