Art market alarmed at tax rule change

Anthony Browne, the Chairman of the British Art Market Federation, has warned the British art market is in danger of relocating to New York or the Far East because of new regulations imposed by the European Commission. A European Court of Justice legal opinion delivered on 24 February 2005 (ECJ Case C-305/03) backing higher value added tax on imported art has dealt another blow to the British art market's international competitiveness.

'Droit de suite', the right of artists to receive a royalty payment from sales of their original work, will be introduced in January 2006 - it is claimed the levy will also add to the cost of art sales in Europe.

Europa: Eur-lex: Case-law: CURIA: Case C-305/03 http://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?pro=&nat=&oqp=&dates=&lg=&language=en&jur=C%2CT%2CF&cit=none%252CC%252CCJ%252CR%252C2008E%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252C%252Ctrue%252Cfalse%252Cfalse&num=C-305%252F03&td=ALL&pcs=O&avg=&page=1&mat=or&jge=&for=&cid=474748

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