Tax

A DISPUTE between Lord Lloyd Webber and the HM Revenue and Customs over the purchase, with the aid of taxpayers' money, of J.W. Waterhouse's St Cecilia by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation, has been settled out of court.

CHRISTIE’S Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS) have announced that they will open a new facility at The Singapore Freeport in January 2010, offering a secure tax-free location for the storage and transaction of fine art and antiques.

THE Inland Revenue are calling for more firms to use their new Business Payment Support Service after receiving more than 44,500 phone calls asking for help since it was launched in November.

THE Treasury have calmed fears that new rules on tax for non-domiciles could damage the UK’s art market.

DESPITE the Treasury’s review of new rules on tax for non-domiciles in the UK, questions remain over the status of offshore trusts.

TREASURY plans to close tax loopholes for the wealthiest foreigners living in the UK could seriously damage the art market, it is feared.

Investors in art and antiques will be among the winners of a major reform of capital gains tax proposed in the government’s pre-Budget report.

A NEW tax guide for people who trade online has been launched on the Inland Revenue’s website.

ART donations to public collections could soon be used to partially offset income tax.

THE added tax burden of Droit de Suite, which comes in at the beginning of next year, could be far worse than feared.

THERE is growing speculation in the trade that the government’s reform of the pension industry is likely to have a significant effect on the art and antiques market.

THE British Numismatic Trade Association have just issued a notice to their members about a new European Union import tax. As from March 1 an ad valorem duty has been imposed on any United States Mint modern products imported into the European Union under the following codes – 71189000 and 71181010.

FAMILIES with valuable homes and art collections may face extreme hardship and even bankruptcy after the Chancellor tore up the rule book on inheritance in the Budget.

TAXES lost to the US government during the American side of the Sotheby’s/Christie’s price-fixing settlement can be retrieved by the British trade say the US company trading in auction house class action certificates.

Measures would not restrict art trade: BRITAIN may soon enjoy one of the most enlightened schemes for keeping key works of art in the country, thanks to the Goodison Review, which has just been published.

THE prospect of tax relief for the maintenance of historic properties has come a step closer thanks to a new Government-backed study. If introduced, it could stem the disposal of works of art, whose sale currently funds 26 per cent of maintenance on such properties.

THE head of one of the United States’ biggest industrial conglomerates has quit the company after being indicted on charges of sales tax evasion on paintings valued at $13m.

“Thank goodness he didn’t put up VAT”, said one dealer in response to Gordon Brown’s budget – the worst fears of the trade did not come true last week.

THE new survey of the European art market commissioned by The European Fine Art Federation makes for grim reading.

UK: CHRISTIE’S and Agnew’s have confirmed that they have successfully negotiated the sale of the Millais masterpiece Mariana in the Moated Grange to the nation in lieu of tax.