§ Mr. BowisTo ask the Minister for the Arts if there have been any items accepted in lieu of tax or allocated since he last made an announcement on the subject to the House.
§ Mr. LuceSince my announcement on 3 May at column105 I am pleased to announce that a painting by Rubens has been accepted in lieu of tax. In accordance with the condition on which it was offered, the painting will be allocated to the Ashmolean museum, Oxford. It satisfied £169,852.48 tax and followed the precedent set by the acceptance of Picasso's "Weeping Woman", in that the Ashmolean agreed to pay the owner the difference (£180,147.52) between the tax liability to be satisfied and the "special price" of £350,000.