Tax bonanza for galleries

Paintings with a combined value of £20m were saved for the nation last year through the Government’s Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) scheme, including paintings by Titian, Van Dyck (‘Princess Mary’, above), Millais and David Hockney. The scheme allows those liable to Inheritance Tax to offer cultural objects of national significance in lieu. The taxpayer is given the full open market value of the item, which is then allocated to a public museum, archive or library on the advice of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council’s (MLA) AIL Panel. Items are advertised on the MLA’s website, and organisations can then submit applications for its allocation. £11m of tax was written off in this way in 2008/09. Dr Christopher Brown, Director of the Ashmolean Museum, which received Titian’s ‘Triumph of Love’ through the scheme, said the scheme “will have huge appeal to a wide public”.