§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what is the budgeted figure for expenditure under acceptances of works of art as property in lieu of inheritance tax for(a) 1998–99 and (b) 1999–2000. [36773]
§ Mr. FisherUnder the arrangements announced in the Spring Budget, no acceptances in lieu will in future require expenditure by the Department. Instead, the Revenue will forgo taxes without seeking reimbursement from the Secretary of State.
At present we are aware of about £52 million of offers which are fairly advanced in the pipeline. However, the level of acceptances depends on whether offering estates wish to maintain that offer, whether Ministers agree to acceptance and whether the Commissioners of Inland Revenue accept the offered property in lieu of the capital taxes applying. Therefore this figure can be only a very broad approximation and it is difficult to give a reliable estimate of how amounts might fall into any single financial year.