Kent art law expert Dr Sophie Vigneron, urges the Government to review its policies regarding the funding of the heritage sector following news that works of art have been accepted in lieu of more than £100m in tax payments.
In response to an article published in The Telegraph yesterday, entitled Government accepts works of art in lieu of £125 million in tax payments, Dr Vigneron comments: ‘The Government seems very generous in forfeiting £125 million of money in its bank vault for the equivalent in works of art by Raphael Ortiz, John Ruskin, Charles Darwin and Rothko. It is a lot of money for little benefit for those who are not interested in the Arts. Is it yet another gain for the Rich?
‘£125 million over five years is very little, an average of £25 million per year. The Cultural Gift Scheme (CGS) was set up in 2013 to allow taxpayers (individuals and companies) to donate important works of art and heritage assets to the Nation in return for a tax deduction in income tax, capital gains tax and corporation tax. Acceptance in lieu (AIL), created in 1910, allows the estate of a deceased person to give to the Treasury a work of art or heritage asset instead of payment of inheritance tax.
‘The CGS and AIL are the main means of acquisition of new works of art or heritage assets by most museums and libraries. The funding of those institutions has been drastically cut in the last five years. Their budget barely covers running costs, staff costs, and maintenance of the building and collection. They do not have the means to buy artefacts on the open market where prices have, in contrast, increased year on year.
‘Furthermore, the Guidance for the CGS states that the annual reduction in tax liabilities for the scheme together with AIL is £30 million per year. It is a very low amount in the current art market that was worth £39.7 bn worldwide and several billion in the UK alone in 2013. Therefore, £30 m only buys major works by less known artists or minor works by well-known artists. The Government should review its policies regarding the funding of the heritage sector and its philanthropy policies if it really wants to encourage people to give major works by major artists to the Nation to improve museum collections.’
Dr Vigneron is a Senior Lecturer in Law at Kent Law School. She conducted a comparative study of auction law for her PhD and has research interests in the field of cultural heritage law. She is a co-organiser of the Legal Treasure Tours for Kent LLM students and is a member of the Institute of Art and Law.
Dr Vigneron also lectures at postgraduate level at the Institut D’Etudes Superieures Artistiques (Paris) and at the Ecole du Louvre (Paris) and was invited to the 19th General Assembly of States Parties in 2013 to observe the UNESCO World Heritage Convention which met to consider means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property.
For more informatin about Dr Vigneron’s research interests and publications, visit her staff profile page.