§ Lord Palmerasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether an owner of an item conditionally exempt from inheritance tax who does not wish to show the item in his own home, can charge for its carriage to an agreed venue; and
What they consider would be a reasonable charge for viewing an item exempt from inheritance tax which is on display in the owner's home or away from the owner's home.
32WA
The Minister of State, Department of Transport (The Earl of Caithness)Owners of works of art which are conditionally exempt from inheritance tax have undertaken to preserve and provide reasonable public access to the objects.
The public access requirement can be met by displaying the object in a house or room open to the public, placing the object on long term loan to a public collection or allowing viewing by appointment. If the third option is chosen and the owner is unwilling to allow the object to be viewed in situ, he must make alternative viewing arrangements.
Where the object is not in a public collection, the owner may make a reasonable charge for viewing. What is reasonable will depend on the facts of each case but the charge must be reasonable from both the owner's and the prospective viewer's point of view and may not always be sufficient to cover all the owner's costs. If the prospective viewer considers that the charge is unreasonable, he or she should send details to the Capital Taxes Office of Inland Revenue, who will consider whether reasonable public access is being withheld.