Over £3m worth of art donated to northern museums in lieu of tax in 2013

Museums and art galleries in the north of England have benefitted from over £3 million worth of art as part of the Government’s acceptance in lieu scheme.

The scheme allows those who have an inheritance tax bill to offset part of those taxes by donating important cultural, scientific or historic objects reallocated to the nation via public museums and galleries.

In the North East, this includes a JMW Turner painting of Lowther Castle which was donated in settlement of a tax liability of £1.75 million. This was originally donated in 2011 but has only this year been permanently housed at Bowes Museum in County Durham.

Also donated to the region were 22 pieces of 20th century studio pottery ranging from 1952 to 1988 donated to the Shipley Museum in Newcastle.

Other pieces of art donated to northern museums include two Degas sculptures worth around £450,000 each, donated to Leeds Art Gallery and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and one of two Barbara Hepworth sculptures donated to The Hepworth Wakefield Museum.

The sculptures were originally donated in 2010 but have this year been permanently housed in Wakefield.

Nationally, the total amount of tax settled through donations in 2013 has gone up by 50% compared to the previous year, increasing from £20 million to £30 million. This is a 500% increase from 2011 when just £5 million was settled.

Lee Stamp, tax director and private client specialist at PwC in Newcastle commented: “This scheme was introduced in the early 1900s so is by no means new, but there has been a definite increase in popularity over the last few years. People are taking more time to plan their affairs and look at different ways to manage their inheritance tax bill.

“We are also seeing an increased number of high networth individuals investing in art as a viable, long-term investment option, and the possibility of using art to offset against inheritance tax in the future is another advantage.”

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