Museums acquire objects worth £45m through tax reduction schemes

Museums, galleries, libraries and archives in the UK received objects worth £45m in 2023/24 through schemes that allow people to reduce their tax bills by handing items to collections.

Through the acceptance in lieu initiative, which allows people to pay inheritance tax by transferring objects to public collections, Oxford’s Bodleian Library acquired an original manuscript score by Johann Sebastian Bach, while Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens received a painting featuring the city by the artist L.S. Lowry.

Meanwhile, the cultural gifts scheme – which allows UK taxpayers to receive a reduction in their bill based on the value of items they donate – has allowed London’s Leighton House to acquire an oil sketch by Lord Leighton, a leading figure in 19th-century British art. 

Lanto Synge, an expert on embroidery, donated a collection covering 300 years of mainly English needlework to the Ulster Museum, Belfast, through the same initiative.

Arts Council England Chair Nicholas Serota said the acceptance of these and other “remarkable objects” would benefit the public for “generations to come”.

“From Swansea to Swindon, these acquisitions are an important boost to museums and galleries and the communities that cherish them,” he said.