Russborough House tax appeal rejected by Noonan

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has rejected a request from the trust which runs Russborough House to allow 100 per cent tax relief on artworks that people buy and donate to the State.

The Alfred Beit Foundation (ABF), which wants to raise funds to safeguard the future of the house, hoped greater tax incentives would encourage people to buy pictures from its collection.

However, in a letter to Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys, Mr Noonan said the current 80 per cent tax relief was “already very generous”.

A spokesman for the ABF said the trust was dismayed to learn of Mr Noonan’s response.

“We are deeply disappointed and it makes the task of consolidating the foundation more difficult,” he said.

Under the S1003 scheme to encourage the donation of heritage items to Irish cultural institutions, 80 per cent of the market value of the items can be offset against the tax liability of the owner, with a ceiling of €6 million in respect of any one year.

Ms Humphreys’s spokeswoman said that she had written to Mr Noonan asking him to consider if the rate could be reinstated at 100 per cent, following a request from the ABF.

“The Minister has now replied stating that it is not his intention to amend the tax relief available for the donation of heritage items to approved State institutions,” the spokeswoman said.

She said that Mr Noonan had noted “that 80 per cent of the market value in tax relief is already very generous and that the rate was introduced to ensure that there was some philanthropic aspect to donations”.

The ABF says it needs to create a €15 million endowment fund for the house.

Christie’s auction

A planned auction at Christie’s in London of Beit collection paintings, including two works by Rubens, was postponed in June so a proposal from private Irish donors for the possible purchase of artworks could be explored.

The ABF spokesman said discussions were ongoing, but had been made more challenging by the latest development.

Ms Humphreys’s spokeswoman said the Minister could not prevent the trustees from putting some or all of the paintings back on the market, “if that is their choice in the circumstances”.

An inter-departmental group tasked with considering how Russborough House can be best assisted on a long-term basis met the trustees last week.

The development of a “masterplan” to leverage philanthropic support was discussed at the meeting.

The late Sir Alfred and Lady Clementine Beit were a wealthy English aristocratic couple who moved to Ireland in the 1950s.

They acquired Russborough House and left the house and its contents, in trust, to the people of Ireland.