§ Lord Freybergasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will agree to the recommendation, put forward in the Report of the Reviewing Committee on the Exports of Works of Art (Part I: 16), that Value Added Tax should be remitted on sales of exported-deferred objects to approved United Kingdom buyers.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish)Her Majesty's Government have no plans to introduce such a relief. There is already a substantial degree of VAT relief for supplies and importations of works of art. Further relief of the kind suggested would increase pressure for similar reliefs from other worthy causes, and the resulting loss of revenue would have to be made good from other sources. Such relief would also not be compatible with current EC rules.