His call comes as the final decision on the tax, which must be taken by the ruling bodies within the European Union by June 5, risks being overshadowed by the demands of the UK General Election.
Droit de suite – which involves a levy paid from the proceeds of art sales, each time a work is sold, to the artist or their descendants for up to 70 years after the artist’s death – already operates in several countries across Europe.
Campaigners, led by BAMF, won significant concessions linked to the introduction of the tax for the UK art market during protracted negotiations over the past few years, only to see those concessions largely clawed back by the European Parliament at the end of last year.
The changes, which are being introduced in the interest of EU harmonisation, are expected to result in Britain losing part of its market to countries which do not operate the levy, notably the United States. BAMF have argued that the introduction of the tax in the UK does not follow the spirit of the EU’s harmonisation policy as it would not benefit fellow EU member countries.
BAMF urges Blair not to forget battle against art resale levy
BRITISH Art Market Federation chairman Anthony Browne has appealed to the Government to continue the fight to protect domestic trade interests from the worst aspects of droit de suite.
