Proposals to introduce a brand new tax on artwork possession have sparked anger in France, with main organisations such because the gallery affiliation Comité Professionel des Galeries d’Artwork (CPGA) and the truthful group Artwork Basel issuing a joint assertion (14 November) condemning the transfer. Beneath the laws, France would turn into the one main artwork hub to impose a wealth tax on the possession of works, says the assertion.
The proposal entails the tax on Immovable Property legislation (IFI, impôt sur la fortune immobilière) being was a tax on “unproductive wealth”, which might cowl artworks. The change was put ahead by Jean-Paul Matteï of the Democratic Motion occasion and Philippe Brun of the Socialist occasion and provisionally accepted by MPs in a primary studying on 31 October. The invoice is because of go earlier than the French senate on 24 November after which be examined by a joint parliamentary committee earlier than returning to the Nationwide Meeting.
The joint assertion, which has 127 signatories, says: “Whereas France is steadily catching up with London within the post-Brexit system, a tax on the possession of artworks would lead collectors to organise their transactions, storage, and conservation amenities in Switzerland, the US or the UK.”
Different signatories of the assertion embrace the visible artist rights organisation ADAGP and the Affiliation for the Worldwide Diffusion of French Artwork (ADIAF). Matteï and Brun have been contacted for remark.
Mathias Ary Jan, the president of the Syndicat des négociants en artwork, an affiliation representing galleries and sellers, advised La Gazette Drouot that “the implications could be disastrous: a particular flight of artworks and heritage from [France].” The CPGA says on-line that it’s instantly “mobilising to defend the tax exemption for artworks and the soundness of the French market”.
Artwork Basel, which lately held the fourth version of its Paris truthful, says in a press release that it signed the joint declaration to echo the issues of its galleries and the broader French artwork ecosystem in regards to the potential inclusion of works as taxable items in… amendments made to the 2026 French Funds Legislation, which is presently being debated in parliament.
“As an lively participant in France’s cultural panorama, we stay dedicated to supporting our galleries and making certain they will proceed to thrive,” provides the Artwork Basel assertion.
Greater than 1,500 folks, a lot of them artists, have additionally signed a separate petition towards the proposed invoice, saying: “We, artists, are talking out right now to defend our professions and refuse to permit the fruit of our creation to be decreased to a speculative worth.”
In keeping with the most recent Artwork Basel/UBS report, in 2024 France contributed greater than half of the European Union’s artwork market worth, at $4.2 billion, regardless of a ten% year-on-year decline in gross sales. It additionally secured its place because the fourth-largest market worldwide, with a 7% share of world gross sales.
