Tax dodge of the week: avoiding the new tax on art

If you are about to sell a work of art from your collection, beware the latest EU tax to hit these shores, an art tax known as droit de suite'. The levy will apply to works sold for €1,000 or more and will fund artists' royalties.

Charles Dupplin, head of art at the insurer Hiscox, says "the tax means that 4p out of every £1 raised by the sale of a modestly priced work of art will be confiscated". If you sell a piece of artwork for up to €50,000, you will have to pay the tax at 4%. It is then levied on a sliding scale on works worth up to €2m.

But there are ways to sidestep the tax. It applies only to sales through auction houses, art dealers and galleries. So, if you can arrange a private sale, you do not have to pay the tax.

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Until 2010, this tax also only affects works by living artists. After that, it will apply if the artist has been dead for less than 70 years. Also, if you sell the work less than three years after the original sale by the artist, the tax is not levied if the price is less than €10,000.

Of course, you could always sell your work of art somewhere like New York, where the tax does not apply.