§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps his Department is taking to improve the advertising of access to private works of art for which the owner receives tax relief for providing such access; and if he will make a statement.[62381]
§ Dawn PrimaroloIn return for conditional tax exemption, owners of heritage assets have to provide reasonable public access to those assets and to publicise the agreed access arrangements. Most conditionally exempt works of art are displayed in houses, museums and galleries open to the public. Others which are not on public display are listed on the Inland Revenue's Register of conditionally exempt works of art, which is available on the Internet.
The Finance Act 1998 strengthened the rules of the conditional exemption scheme to ensure, among other things, that the public are better informed about their rights to see conditionally exempt assets. In future, owners of all conditionally exempt assets will be required, as a minimum, to advertise access arrangements through the Inland Revenue's Internet site. Owners will also be required to disclose information about the terms of the exemption.