December 21, 2020 at 1:00pm
British taxpayers donated artworks worth a record-breaking total of $87 million to UK arts institutions this year as part of the government’s Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) tax program, which allows individuals gifting works of national importance to UK institutions to write off inheritance tax debt,
The Art Newspaper reports. According to Arts Council England, the scheme gained significantly in popularity this year, as did the Cultural Gifts Scheme, which allows living individuals to donate works in exchange for tax breaks.
Among the works gifted were a Paul Gaugin manuscript the donation of which satisfied $8.7 million in inheritance debt to London’s Courtauld Institute. Featuring nearly thirty illustrations, the book-length work was made by the artist in his hut on a remote Polynesian island just two months before his death at age fifty-four. It is the only major manuscript by the French Post-Impressionist to be held by a Briti
Portrait with Candelabra by Leonard Rosoman (1968) Photo: Courtesy of Pallant House Gallery
A sunkissed Pissarro painting, a Queen Anne wine cistern and six etchings by Rembrandt are all gifts that have been bestowed upon the UK s public collections this year as part of the government s Acceptance in Lieu (AIL) tax scheme, which brought in a record £65m in 2020 according to a report by Arts Council England.
AIL allows for inheritance tax debts to be written off in exchange for the acquisition of objects of national importance. Its younger sibling the Cultural Gifts Scheme, also included in the report, allows for donors to give works during their lifetime in exchange for tax benefits.