Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the terms of the tax exemption scheme for heritage assets were last reviewed.

Land, buildings and objects of outstanding scenic, architectural, historic or artistic interest form an integral part of the cultural life of this country. The capital taxes conditional exemption encourages the nation’s heritage to be preserved and displayed for the enjoyment of the public.

Following a detailed review, these rules were updated in the Finance Act 1998. All elements of the tax system remain under continuous review.

The majority of objects that benefit from exemption are displayed in public museums or galleries. Owners of land and buildings report visitor numbers as part of the regular monitoring undertaken by HMRC in collaboration with heritage advisory bodies. HMRC does not collate these numbers and they could only be provided reliably at disproportionate cost.

Estimates of the cost of the conditional exemption are published as part of HMRC’s ‘non-structural tax reliefs’ publication: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs.