Art world up in arms at “light bulb” law
Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 11:53AM 
The art world has reacted with astonishment to a European ruling which has determined that works by Bill Viola and Dan Flavin, when disassembled, should not be considered works of art for tax purposes. Dealers warn that the decision will inhibit the European art trade.
The ruling, which is binding on all EU countries, overturns decisions taken in British and Dutch courts, was made by the European Commission (The Art Newspaper, December 2010, p59) and means that galleries and auction houses will be charged full VAT—as opposed to the much lower import duties which apply to art—when importing disassembled works made from components such as light fittings or household appliances into Europe. For example, UK trade will have to pay 20% tax rate instead of 5%.
This has led to a bizarre situation. While customs authorities can classify works as “wall light fittings” rather than art when considering the import duties (so charging the highest tax rate), the overall tax value can still be based on the works’ value as “sculpture”—inevitably much more expensive than the value of a cheap light fitting.
Read the whole article here at the excellent Art Newspaper
Reader Comments (2)
Hello,
You can take a look at Momardi. Tuesday's blog about Visual Arts in London. Tales of a girl working her way into the contemporary art scene.
Very nice stuff.
http://momardi.com
Cheers
Joan Mira
Momardi is absolutely incredible piece of inspiration. I should admit that it definitely impressed with all the gorgeous things there.