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Gifts of pre-eminent objects and works of art to the nation: consultation

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HM Treasury has invited views on proposals for a new scheme to encourage people to donate pre-eminent objects or works of art to the nation. Donors’ tax bills will be reduced by a percentage of the value of the object donated.

HM Treasury has invited views on proposals for a new scheme to encourage people to donate pre-eminent objects or works of art to the nation. Donors’ tax bills will be reduced by a percentage of the value of the object donated.

The new scheme will complement the proposed reduced rate of inheritance tax where at least 10% of a person’s net estate is left to charity. It will share some elements of the existing inheritance tax ‘acceptance in lieu’ scheme, which will continue, according to the consultation paper published today.

The government is seeking views on:

  • who will be eligible to apply for the new scheme;
  • how to define pre-eminent and how objects will qualify;
  • how acceptance of offers will work;
  • which institutions will be eligible to receive objects;
  • how objects should be allocated to institutions;
  • what conditions should attach to objects allocated to institutions;
  • how the tax reduction should be calculated, including the rate of reduction which should apply per donated object; and
  • whether there should be a cap on the amount of tax reduction per object or per donor.

‘This year’s Budget saw the most radical and generous reforms in this area for more than twenty years,’ said Justine Greening, Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

‘We want to make it easier for people to give in a range of ways and at different stages in their life, whether through the charity bucket, by volunteering their time, through legacy giving or by lifetime donations of works of art or historical objects to the nation.  In this way, we hope to create a culture of philanthropy across society,’ she added.

Comments are invited by 21 September.

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